Franco Mormando's Webpage
********MORMANDO BERNINI LECTURE AT 92Y-TRIBECA, NYC, SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2PM*******
now in print:
BERNINI: HIS LIFE AND HIS ROME
by Franco Mormando
The first English-language biography of the artist
(click here to download Table of Contents)
For more about the biography, see the Facebook page, "BERNINI BY MORMANDO" & MY OWN FACEBOOK PAGE
For videotaped interviews with author about the biography:
BOSTON COLLEGE FACULTY PUBLICATIONS & HARVARD UNIVERSITY "ROMANCE SPHERE"
Publisher's Weekly (Oct. 3, 2011): "In one of the few biographies of Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini since his death in 1680, Boston College Italian professor Mormando constructs a comprehensive, extraordinarily vivid portrait of the sculptor known as 'the Michelangelo of his age.' A child prodigy compulsive about creative achievement, Bernini was, in Mormando’s estimation, a superbly technically skilled sculptor who possessed rare psychological insight into the human and mythological subjects he portrayed. Mormando traces Bernini’s work for his first chief patron, Pope Urban VIII, detailing Bernini’s power struggles with rival Borromini; the critical receptions of and controversies surrounding major commissions such as the baldacchino at St. Peter’s and sexually charged Saint Teresa in Ecstasy; his monumental work for Pope Alexander VII; and the tumultuous period in the court of Louis XIV. Swiftly paced and buoyantly written, this richly sourced work places Bernini within the dynamic, criminal, superstitious, and sensual city that was baroque Rome; Mormando examines Bernini’s work and artistic place within the baroque in far less depth. Of great interest to general readers seeking a well-researched, highly readable portrait of the sculptor and those interested in the cultural history of baroque Rome. 43 b&w illus."
Booklist (Oct. 15, 2011): “Though as preeminent in his time as Leonardo and Michelangelo in theirs, Gian Lorenzo Bernini is hardly the household word each of them is, at least in Anglophone countries. If Mormando’s biography—the first written in English—of the towering Roman sculptor, architect, painter, playwright, and miscellaneous artist (his portfolio included theatrical-production designs, temporary structures for public celebrations, even floral displays) probably won’t greatly affect that situation, that will be no fault of Mormando’s. He has gone back to the earliest lives of the artists, and, because those tend toward hagiography, the scandalmongering popular press and the gossipy correspondence of foreign diplomats in Bernini’s Rome to fill out the portrait of a narcissistic, scheming, fiery dynamo of a man, capable of producing a torrent of art while managing an enormous staff of assistants, and, as paterfamilias after his sculptor father’s death, a large family of origin and eventually, of procreation (he didn’t marry until 50, which doesn’t mean he was chaste beforehand) over the course of more than 60 years. Moreover, by adopting the manner of a lecturer—teasingly mentioning things to come, employing the first-person plural as a teacher, roping students into his intellectual questing, throwing in some slang now and then, and without neglecting scholarship (this is a history of papal Rome as much as a biography)—Mormando gives us a succulent reading experience. Quanto è dolce."
Library Journal (Nov. 1, 2011): "Mormando (Italian, Boston Coll.) provides enough salacious details of the scandal-ridden life of baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini to keep readers turning pages in this engaging, well-researched biography. He worked for a parade of popes in Rome and received commissions from Rome's leading families: the Barberini, Pamphilj, Chigi, and Borghese. His outsized ego, which prompted his mother to write a letter to the pope pleading for the pontiff to reign her son in, plagued him throughout his life: not only maiming a mistress who had been unfaithful to him, but also making impolitic remarks about Louis XIV and Paris while living as the king's guest in France. Still, Bernini managed to create some of the world's most enduring artworks, including his statues St. Teresa in Ecstasy, David, Apollo and Daphne, and the Piazza Navona's Fountain of the Four Rivers, as well as the baldacchino and interior design of St. Peter's and the colonnade of its majestic piazza, among his many monumental achievements. VERDICT: Mormando's extensive research and documentation not only will satisfy scholars and students of art history, especially baroque aficionados, but this biography will also appeal to general readers."—Ellen Bates, New York (Arts & Humanities Reviews).
Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries: "Any new book on Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), whose prolific artistic genius transformed Rome in the 17th century, is bound to attract the immediate attention of scholars, students, and lovers of the Baroque. This volume by Mormando (Italian, Boston College) approaches Bernini's life in an unprecedented and startling new way. In the author's words, "This book makes the pursuit of 'Bernini himself,' the uncensored, flesh-and-blood human being, one of its primary objectives, as it also narrates the milestones of his public career and family history." Using the two well-known biographies plus a myriad of other primary sources (private letters, diaries, news bulletins, diplomatic dispatches), Mormando builds a revealing picture of Bernini within the context of his remarkable achievements and, of paramount importance, that of 17th-century Rome. Chapters include "The Neapolitan Meteor," "Impresario Supreme," "Bernini's Agony and Ecstasy," "Bernini and Alexander," "A Roman Artist, in King Louis's Court," and "My Star Will Lose Its Ascendancy," followed by exhaustive notes and bibliography, and a meticulously detailed index. This is the first full-scale biography of Bernini in English; it reveals the many passions, while excluding none of the ambitions, tempers, and weaknesses, of an extraordinary creative genius. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-level undergraduates and above." (May 2012 issue)
“Gian Lorenzo Bernini dominated the artistic life of Papal Rome for much of the seventeenth century. There has long been a need for a good, general overview of the artist and the manner in which he changed the appearance of the Eternal City. We now have one in Franco Mormando’s Bernini: His Life and Work, published by The University of Chicago Press. This is just the book to prepare any likely visitors who might not find Bernini’s combination of artistic ingenuity in the service of religious enthusiasm to their taste. It sets the scene with great gusto, giving us just the right combination of background history with piquant analysis of the many sculptures, buildings and other projects which he created for his mostly Papal and Royal patrons. It would also serve as a good introduction to Rome in advance of joining our visit, ‘Rome & The Grand Tour.’” “New Perspectives for the Discerning,” Ciceroni Tours website, UK, 29 Dec. 2011.
"Published this past November, Franco Mormando’s Bernini: His Life and His Rome is a wonderful biography on an artist who has left an indelible mark on Rome with his theatrical sculptures, playful fountains and building works. Published by the University of Chicago Press, this book relates not only the life of Bernini from his auspicious beginnings to the end of his career, but it also attempts — might I say, most successfully — to recreate the “atmosphere” of Rome in Bernini’s time and my favorite aspect of this work. Mormando does a wonderful job of creating a psychological profile of the artist, doing his best to get into the mind of his subject and helps us to understand what he might be thinking and feeling and why Bernini does what he does. Mormando does not force 21st century values onto his subject and paints a picture of the artist as he should be seen: a product of his time. This task is most certainly not an easy task, but, the author draws on primary source material in order to complete his profile of Bernini. Primary source material from Bernini’s own son, Domenico, and observations from those of other eyewitnesses work to create a balanced portrait of the artist, his works, his temperament, and his dealings with others.
Mormando is always careful and cautions the reader regularly that we must judge carefully Domenico’s accounts of many exploits recounted in his biography. Using other eyewitness accounts certain helps to balance out some of Domenico’s less believable observations. In doing so, we are able to judge Bernini through the eyes of several observers. More importantly, Mormando recreates Baroque Rome, providing the reader with a realistic account of Rome by discussing not only the art and patrons of Bernini but the politics and problems of the time as well as the circumstances involving Bernini’s works and commissions. This aspect of the book I enjoyed the most, and I also appreciated the author’s dedication in keeping Rome and its cultural and political climate always 'on stage' with the artist...." Review (by "Keith") on the website, "Knowing Rome: All Things Roman," April 6, 2012.
also in print (& in paperbound edition):
Domenico Bernini: The Life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini:
A Translation and Critical Edition, with Introduction and Commentary
by Franco Mormando
Penn State University Press, 2011.
"This edition is in, effect, a one-volume encyclopedia on the artist's life and work.
As such, it stands alone within the immense bibliography of Bernini scholarship" (from dustjacket)
click here for an interview with the author discussing the origins, nature, and contents of this edition.