s an excess of splendid
works were produced; it is true immense resources were expended, and
able artists were employed; but such inner hollowness stares at us with
inanimate eye from the greater number of these works that we turn from
them with repugnance, and even often with disgust."

The artist who first met this new demand upon sculpture, and may be
called the founder of a new style, was GIOVANNI LORENZO BERNINI
(1598-1680), a very gifted man. When but ten years old this remarkable
genius was known as a prodigy in art, and it was at this early age that
his father took him to Rome. Pope Paul V. was soon interested in him,
and Cardinal Barberini assisted him in his studies; from this fortunate
beginning all through his life good fortune attended his steps. He lived
through the pontificate of nine popes, and was always in favor with the
reigning head of the Church. This gave him the opportunity to fill Rome
with his works, and he imprinted himself upon the art of the Eternal
City; no artist since the time of Michael Angelo held such sway, and
Bernini acquired his power easily, while the grand Michael Angelo was
disputed at every step, and fought a long, hard battle before he was
allowed to take the place which was so clearly his by right.

The fame of Bernini extended to other lands, and he was invited to
France, where he went when sixty-eight years old, accompanied by one of
his sons and a numerous retinue. He was loaded with favors, and received
large sums of money and many valuable presents. In Rome, too, he was
much favored; he held several church benefices, and his son was made a
Canon of Santa Maria Maggiore; and it was in this church that Bernini
was buried with great magnificence, as became his position and his
wealth, for he left the immense fortune of four hundred thousand Roman
crowns.

Bernini had great versatility of talent, a remarkable imagination and
power of conceiving his subjects clearly, and, more than all, he had
marvellous power of execution and compelling his marble to show forth
his thought. It has been said that marble was like wax or clay beneath
his hand. He was subject to no rules; indeed, he believed that an artist
must set aside all rules if he would excel. This sounds very
fascinating, but a study of Bernini's works will show that it is a
deceitful maxim. A man of small talent could do nothing in this way, and
even Bernini, who without doubt had great gifts, often failed to make up
in