A Transitory Star

Examining Bernini's works from 1665 on, from Paris and Rome, the essays collected here use visual and material examination, archival research, and comparative textual analysis to illuminate the growing distance of Gallic absolutism from the fading dream of papal hegemony over Europe, and the complexities of Bernini's role as mouthpiece, obstacle, and flatterer of the Princes of the Papal States.