The overlooked polymath whose theatrical oeuvre made all of Rome a stage

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a prodigy and polymath whose reputation has never quite escaped from the shadow of his hero, Michelangelo. Nevertheless, he was a genius whose emotive works of art and architecture still shape Rome today. In this video essay from the YouTube series Great Art Explained, the UK curator, gallerist and video essayist James Payne uses Bernini’s sculpture Apollo and Daphne (1622-25) as a centrepiece for exploring his art in the context of 17th-century Rome, when the classical restraint of the Renaissance gave way to the more expressive dynamism of the Baroque era. Diving into Bernini’s life and oeuvre, Payne details how the interplay of religious expression and papal power-politics shaped his storied career, culminating in perhaps his most famous achievement: the design of St Peter’s Square in Vatican City.