. The Catholic encyclopedia; an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline, and history of the Catholic Church . ately Barberini palace at built the beautiful Odescalchi palace, took partin adorning the Piazza Navona with the obelisk, anddesigned the pleasing statues of the river-gods forthe great fountain. In speaking of Berninis work as a sculptor it maybe said that in this field the decadence of his artmakes itself apparent. The skeleton representingDeath on the tomb of Irban VIII, in the church ofSt. Peter, is placed in the midst of ideal and reallybe
. The Catholic encyclopedia; an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline, and history of the Catholic Church . ately Barberini palace at built the beautiful Odescalchi palace, took partin adorning the Piazza Navona with the obelisk, anddesigned the pleasing statues of the river-gods forthe great fountain. In speaking of Berninis work as a sculptor it maybe said that in this field the decadence of his artmakes itself apparent. The skeleton representingDeath on the tomb of Irban VIII, in the church ofSt. Peter, is placed in the midst of ideal and reallybeautiful figures. Weaker still, with the exceptionof the portrait, is the tomb of Alexander VII. pierced by an Arrow is exceedingly ef-fective, the Rape of Proserpine, as well as hisApollo and Daphne, are weak and sensuous. Onthe other hand, the equestrian statue of Constantinein St. Peters suffers from its size, as the heroic pro-portions do not appear to be united \^•^th the neces-sary intrinsic worth. To-day the canopy {baldac-chino) is as universally condemned as it was then(1633) admired. Neither is approval now given tc. BERNINI 511 BERNIS the Chair of St. Peter in the tribune of the as a sculptor Bernini is at times extreme,without force, theatrical in the pose, affected in de-tails, or over-luxuriant in graces. He wasentirely in accord with the spirit of his time andcountenanced it with all the authority of his abilityand fame. He attached more importance to graceof outward form than to intrinsic merit, and aimetlmore at external effect than at the real artistic com-pleteness of the work. Yet among his a sculptor are many excellent works. As exam-ples may be given the tomb of the Countess Matildain St. Peters, and the statues of St. Ludovica Al-bcrtoni and St. Bibiana in the niches of the colonnadeof St. Peters. In the niches of these columns are162 statues made after designs by Bernini. In hiswork on the Bridge of Sa
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