Louis XIV

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: (1598-1680) was a Jack-of-all-trades. He was a playwright, a painter, a composer, an architect, a theater designer, and caricaturist. However, he was most known for his sculpting. Louis was so pleased with Bernini's work that he granted him an annual pension and in 1665 commissioned him to sculpt an equestrian statue of himself. This was to be Bernini's last royal symbol of the king. The original statue was actually carved from a single block of Carrara marble by Bernini's students and was completed prior to 1673. This classic, glorified flourish of Baroque art was not sent to Versailles until 1685, five years after the sculptor's death. Louis took an instant dislike to it. He first ordered it to be broken into pieces but relented and had it exiled to the far end of the gardens near the Pool of the Swiss Guards after his likeness was removed.  Text from http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMVD3

3/26/09 

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