Sculpture and Movement CW#17

My Experiences with Bernini

The last time I went to the Villa Borghese, I saw Bernini’s masterpieces for the first time in my life. I did not know who he was or his reputation for sculpture, but I knew I liked his work because he had the ability to manipulate marble so that it appeared to be moving. For example, in both “Apollo and Daphne” and in “Pluto and Proserpina,” it was obvious even to my untrained eye that these two males were pursuing/capturing their unwilling lovers. I did not know the mythological origins of the statues, but I recognized them as great works of marble in action. In a way, the first time I saw these statues was probably a similar experience to the people of the Baroque period seeing the latest Bernini for the first time. The only difference between my first viewing of the Apollo and Daphne and Berninis’ contemporaries first viewing was that they would have been familiar with his previous works, holding a certain expectation about what they were about to see. I had no previous expectations for Bernini so all his works were more impressive to me, viewing them for the first time. I had never seen marble, which I had always believed was a hard, rigid substance, manipulated in that way before. Bernini’s contemporaries would have probably been in a similar state of shock by his ability to once again breathe life into stone. I took the time to observe the intricate details he had sculpted to give life to his statues: the slender fingers transforming into delicate leaves, the fingernails and toenails, and the veins in the figures’ arms and legs that were a part of a figure so real they gave the illusion of actually carrying blood. I easily spent the whole day staring at these statues, walking around them and discovering their little details until the museum finally kicked me out. I had always discounted the value of art, but when the Bernini’s at the Villa Borghese were ‘unveiled’ to me, the experience gave me a real appreciation for such fine works.

Going into the Villa Borghese for a second time, I held a certain preconceived expectation. I had told all my classmates that this was probably the best museum in Rome because it held some of the most life-like marble statues that anyone (even an art cynic like me) would appreciate. For a seasoned Bernini expert like myself, I expected to go to the statues, circle them a few times, observe some of the details, then move on, as I had done before. But after listening to Linda’s presentation, I realized that Bernini did not intend his audience to make cursory, superficial observations. To truly understand Bernini’s sculptures, I needed to interact with them. They were not designed to be viewed from a central perspective, but required me to move, just like they were moving. But I couldn’t just circle the statues in a random fashion. As a viewer, I needed to take the proper route around the statues to see the story unfold before my eyes. Environment was so important to these works of art that these statues were placed in positions within the rooms so that the audience would have viewed them from a one particular angle when they first entered and see the story unfold as they moved around the room. Take the story of Apollo and Daphne for example: Linda first showed us the back of Apollo, his robes of marble jutting out at us, his powerful calves thrusting forward, and his hands reaching out. We could tell he was in movement, pursuing something. As we moved counterclockwise, we saw his robe billowing behind him, arms grasping onto a woman, whose own arms were outstretched, fingers turning into leaves. As we continued to rotate, we saw the front of Daphne’s face, fearful, looking upwards to the god’s for help. Meanwhile we also noticed Apollo’s face, slightly bewildered. His hand on Daphne’s chest was not actually touching her skin, but a piece of bark that had extended up from her left leg. A final turn showed us Daphne’s leg transforming into the bottom of a tree, which is when we realized that Apollo’s pursuit is in vain; he was not able to get Daphne, as we thought he might at the beginning, when we saw a powerful man grabbing a woman. From this angle we instead observe that his attempt was really in vain.

Viewing the Bernini’s for a second time added a whole new level to my understanding of art. Even though I felt like I knew these Bernini’s from prior my experience, I was amazed at how radically different another person looked at the same piece of art. None of us knew what Bernini was actually thinking when he sculpted these masterpieces, so we’ll never know his true intentions. However, I think some art needs to be re-evaluated from a different perspective to see if there is more meaning and depth to the piece than simply surface observations.