Editing Gian Lorenzo Bernini (section)

===Architecture===
Although his formal professional training was as sculptor and his entrance into the field of architecture not of his own volition but that of Pope Urban VIII, Bernini had by the end of his life reached what has proven to be his enduring status as one of the most influential architects of seventeenth-century Europe. He was certainly one of the most prolific over the many decades of his long, active life. Despite the fact that he rarely left the city of Rome and that all of his works of architecture were confined to the limits of the papal capital or to nearby towns, Bernini's influence was indeed European-wide: this is thanks both to the many engravings that disseminated his ideas across the continent and to the many non-Italian students of architecture who made long pilgrimages to Rome from all corners of Europe to study and be inspired by the ancient and modern masters, Bernini among them.

Bernini's architectural works include sacred and secular buildings and sometimes their urban settings and interiors.<ref>The most recent and comprehensive study of Bernini's architecture in English is Tod A. Marder, ''Bernini and the Art of Architecture,'' Abbeville Press, New York and London, 1998.</ref> He made adjustments to existing buildings and designed new constructions. Among his most well-known works are [[St. Peter's Square]] (1656–67), the [[piazza]] and colonnades in front of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] and the interior decoration of the basilica. Among his secular works are a number of Roman palaces: following the death of [[Carlo Maderno]], he took over the supervision of the building works at the [[Palazzo Barberini]] from 1630 on which he worked with [[Francesco Borromini]]; the Palazzo Ludovisi (now [[Palazzo Montecitorio]], started 1650); and the Palazzo Chigi (now [[Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi]], started 1664).

[[File:Baldachin petersdom.jpg|thumb|left|''St. Peter's baldachin'', 1624–1633]]

His first architectural projects were the creation of the new façade and refurbishment of the interior of the church of [[Santa Bibiana]] (1624–26) and the ''[[St. Peter's Baldachin]]'' (1624–33), the bronze columned canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's basilica. In 1629, and before the baldachin was complete, [[Urban VIII]] put him in charge of all the ongoing architectural works in the basilica, bestowing upon him the official rank of "Architect of St. Peter's." However, Bernini fell out of favour during the papacy of Innocent X Pamphili because of that pope's already-mentioned animosity towards the Barberini (and hence towards their clients including Bernini) and the above-described failure of the bell towers designed and built by Bernini for St. Peter's Basilica. Never wholly without patronage during the Pamphili years and never losing his status as "Architect of St. Peter's," after Innocent's death in 1655 Bernini regained a major role in the decoration of the basilica with the [[Pope Alexander VII]] [[Chigi family|Chigi]], leading to his design of the piazza and [[colonnade]] in front of St. Peter's. Further significant works by Bernini at the Vatican include the ''[[Scala Regia (Vatican)|Scala Regia]]'' (1663–66), the monumental grand stairway entrance to the Vatican Palace, and the ''[[Chair of Saint Peter|Cathedra Petri]]'', the Chair of Saint Peter, in the apse of St. Peter's, in addition to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the nave.

[[File:Sicht vom petersdom roma.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|View of the piazza and colonnade in front of St. Peter's]]

Bernini did not build many churches ''ex novo'', from the ground up; rather, his efforts were concentrated on pre-existing structures, such as the restored church of Santa Bibiana and in particular St. Peter's. He fulfilled three commissions for new churches in Rome and nearby small towns. Best known is the small but richly ornamented oval church of [[Sant'Andrea al Quirinale]], done (beginning in 1658) for the Jesuit novitiate, representing one of the rare works of his hand with which Bernini's son, Domenico, reports that his father was truly and very pleased.<ref>See Domenico Bernini, ''The Life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini'', trans. and ed. [[Franco Mormando]], University Park: Penn State University Press, 2011, pp. 178–179.</ref> Bernini also designed churches in [[Castelgandolfo]] ([[San Tommaso da Villanova]], 1658–1661) and [[Ariccia]] ([[Santa Maria Assunta (Ariccia)|Santa Maria Assunta]], 1662–1664), and was responsible for the re-modelling of the [[Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Galloro, Ariccia]], endowing it with a majestic new façade.

When Bernini was invited to Paris in 1665 to prepare works for [[Louis XIV]], he presented designs for the [[east façade of the Louvre Palace]], but his projects were ultimately turned down in favour of the more sober and classic proposals of a committee consisting of three Frenchmen: [[Louis Le Vau]], [[Charles Le Brun]], and the doctor and amateur architect [[Claude Perrault]],<ref>[[Anthony Blunt]], ''Architecture in France 1500–1700'', Pelican History of Art, 1953, p. 190.</ref> signalling the waning influence of Italian artistic hegemony in France. Bernini's projects were essentially rooted in the Italian Baroque urbanist tradition of relating public buildings to their settings, often leading to innovative architectural expression in urban spaces like ''piazze'' or squares. However, by this time, the French absolutist monarchy now preferred the classicizing monumental severity of the Louvre's facade, no doubt with the added political bonus that it had been designed by Frenchmen. The final version did, however, include Bernini's feature of a flat roof behind a [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] balustrade.