The Artist and the Eternal City: Bernini, Pope Alexander VII, and The Making of Rome

by Loyd Grossman

This brilliant vignette of seventeenth-century Rome, its Baroque architecture, and its relationship to the Catholic Church brings to life the friendship between a genius and his patron with an ease of writing that is rare in art history.By 1650, the spiritual and political power of the Catholic Church was shattered. Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome—celebrated both as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world)—had lost its preeminent place in Europe. Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile, and a mania for creating new architecture, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the key destination for Europe's intellectual, political, and cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important living artist—no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, and Velazquez.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Italy

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2021

About the author

Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman, OBE, FSA (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British television presenter, gastronome and musician who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He is currently a judge on ITV Food series Food Glorious Food.

Grossman was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts on 16 September 1950, the son of David K. Grossman and Helen Katherine (née Gilman). His father was Jewish and worked as an antiques dealer. His initial education was at the General John Glover School in Marblehead, and then at Marblehead High School. He graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history before going to the United Kingdom in 1975 to study at the London School of Economics where he received a Masters in economic history.

Reviews

[David Eppenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

As this charming little book is about a 17th century Italian Baroque artist/architect it will have limited general appeal. This is a rather an unusual book in that it is something of a biography of Lorenzo Bernini who gave us the baldacchino, the bronze canopy, over the altar of St. Peter's Church in Rome as well as the embracing colonnade that encloses St. Peter's Square. He also is responsible for one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, Sant' Andrea al Quirinale, a sensuous and lyrical rhapsody in stone. Of course these are by no means his only artistic contributions but they are unusual in that Bernini was primarily a sculptor and not an architect though his architecture is what he is known for.

What really makes this book unusual is that it is relatively short, only 271 pages of text, and there are no chapters. It is a continuous textual discourse with numerous page breaks and lavishly illustrated. Without illustrations any book about a visual art or artist is worthless and may as well be junked. In that regard the reader will not be disappointed. Reading this chapterless book put me in mind of a transcript of a lecture on Baroque architecture in Rome but it is too relaxed and informal, almost conversational which makes it easily understood and endured. While the book is about Bernini it is hardly an exhaustive treatment of his life and art. It is also about the people that advanced and supported his career as well as a history of the city of Rome and Roman culture. It ends with the author presenting the reader with a descriptive walking tour of the city of Rome and the obelisks found in that city. It was at this point that I came to realize that this book is more of a tour guide of Rome in the Baroque era with particular emphasis on its most noteworthy architect of that period. As I stated it is not an exhaustive treatment of this period or its notable personages but it is an excellent introduction and worth reading if the period, the art, or the city are of interest to you.

[Sue King · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars This is a pretty comprehensive look at the influence and works of Bernini in Rome and how closely he worked with Pope Alexander VII to design major areas of the city.

[KJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. Bernini had a long life and accomplished so many things. I'm not sure why, but I got through the 1st half of the book much faster than the 2nd half. The writing didn't change but it didn't hold my attention quite as much.

[Scout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting schtuff, Bernini is a weird dude

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an odd book for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that it isn’t really about either Bernini or Pope Alexander VII. It’s a very old-school travelogue, almost, using that topic to meander on about related topics, from the obvious (Alexander’s predecessor Urban VIII) to the far less obvious (why are there obelisks in Holy Rome?). This makes it very enjoyable but difficult to summarize.

Grossman doesn’t go into anything in depth; making this both a light read and a dense read at the same time: a lot of topics, lightly covered. The basic idea appears to be that the “builder popes”, culminating in Alexander VII, along with Bernini, made Rome into much of what we think of it today. Before, it was a decaying ancient city with little sense of its own history. The Popes recognized that the history of Rome enhanced their own influence in the world of men, and so leaned into it, making Rome more classical in a very baroque way.

At the end, it leans into the ambiguity by providing a walking tour, not of Bernini’s art in Rome, but of the obelisks of Rome. Vorrei vedere l’elefante di Bernini!

The book is also filled with wonderful color photographs of the art in question, and sepia designs of the art and other period ephemera.

Intriguingly, the period that the book covers in most detail—Pope Urban VIII’s election in 1623 through Pope Alexander VII’s death in 1667—is also the period of the Three Musketeers! In among the political intrigues that affect Bernini’s life are the machinations of the French Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin designed to strengthen France’s world influence!

[J Melachrinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book, especially on the cusp of a trip to Rome. As such I have been reading a lot of travel material, and this book fit neatly into a similar category. So much of what you see is Bernini, and being able to place it in the historical and artistic context of Rome before and after is just what I was looking for. I learned a lot, and now desperately want to visit the (previously unheard of) Minerva elephant.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the British release of this book with the title An Elephant in Rome. Here is my review: I loved every word of this book. My husband and I are great lovers of Bernini’s Rome and I savored every page. The author made everything come alive with wonderful storytelling skills and fabulous pictures. I’ve the book to all my friends who love Rome.

[Bart Van Eynde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erg vlot geschreven. Een prima inleiding op de actuele stadsinrichting van Rome/Vaticaanstad door Bernini en Alexander VII. Maar op bepaalde, heel bekende punten blijft de schrijver wat op de achtergrond (vb. de inrichting van het Sint-Pietersplein). Erg waardevol zijn de prenten van het Rome uit de zeventiende eeuw en voorontwerpen van realisaties door Bernini.

[David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been to Rome, but this engaging vignette of Bernini's life and relationship with his papal patrons brought the 17th century version of the city to life. The narrative is breezy and readable and the illustrations clearly demonstrate Bernini's genius.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Thomas Noriega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Equally a history of Rome's obelisks as it is of Rome's urban renewal through the seventeenth century. Grossman's book is illustrated with flourishes of memoir and sumptuous images, including an exceptional reproduction of a period map of the city and a walking tour of the city's obelisks. A few moments of repetition suggest that the text may not have been as carefully edited as the images, but Grossman has the good sense to balance the art with the history in a narrative as much about the history of the papacy as it is about beautiful works of art