BERNINI AND THE BAROQUE SCULPTURE

The Bridge of the Angels can be considered an introduction to the spectacular Baroque sculpture.

In preparation for the Jubilee of 1675 Pope Clement IX Rospigliosi commissioned Bernini the task of creating a Via Crucis that the pilgrims, crossing the Tiber, would have run.

Bernini devised 10 angels, each of whom would have shown the symbols of the Passion.

Bernini himself carved 2 of the 10 angels, while 4 were sculpted by his closest aids: Paolo Naldini, Girloamo Lucenti, Lazzaro Morelli and the youngest of them all, Antonio Giorgetti.
Therefore it remained 4 angels to be sculpted.

Strong of his prestige, Bernini called the best artists of the time: Ercole Ferrata, Ercole Antonio Raggi, Domenico Guidi, Cosimo Fancelli and, since they could not say no to Bernini, even the “best” went to work in competition with each other.

The 4 greats, along with the greatest Bernini, are the protagonists of the spectacular Roman Baroque.

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