Close-up of Pluto’s hand gripping Proserpina’s thigh in Bernini’s marble sculpture
Close-up of Pluto’s hand gripping Proserpina’s thigh in Bernini’s marble sculpture
The Rape of Proserpina (detail), 1621–22, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Galleria Borghese, Rome. Photo: The Lawless Muse Archives.
Detail of Daphne’s hand transforming into laurel branches in Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s marble sculpture
Apollo and Daphne, 1622–25, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Galleria Borghese, Rome. Photo by Massimo Gaudio. Courtesy of Massimo Gaudio Art.
Apollo reaching for Daphne as she transforms into a tree, marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Apollo and Daphne, 1622–25 (detail), Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Galleria Borghese, Rome. Photo by Massimo Gaudio. Courtesy of Massimo Gaudio Art.
Close-up of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s youthful face in his painted self-portrait
Self-Portrait as a Young Man, c. 1623, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Courtesy of The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
CategoryFirst Name Basis
FocusGian Lorenzo Bernini
Period/Movement Baroque Sculpture
Image CreditSee Image Use & Legal Notice

Bernini: Sculpting the Sublime

At the Galleria Borghese, stone doesn’t sit still: it spirals, struggles, and soars.
Bernini’s electrifying sculptures, from Apollo and Daphne to The Rape of Persephone, turn marble into myth: fingers pressing into flesh, bodies caught mid-flight.

He didn’t just carve the Baroque. He was the Baroque.