Bernini Gallery

The Great Altar, with its baldacchino, 95 feet high, St. Peters Church, Rome, Italy, c1909

The Great Altar, with its baldacchino, 95 feet high, St. Peter's Church, Rome, Italy, c1909. Large Baroque sculpted bronze canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini built 623-1634. To be viewed on a Sun Sculpture stereoscope made by Underwood & Underwood. [The Rose Stereograph Company, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington & London, c1909]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

St Peters Square and Basilica and the Vatican, Rome, Italy.Artist: Underwood & Underwood

St Peter's Square and Basilica and the Vatican, Rome, Italy. St Peter's Square was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and built between 1656 and 1667. At the centre of the piazza stands an Ancient Egyptian obelisk dating from the 13th century BC, which was brought to Rome in the 1st century to stand at the centre of the Circus of Nero. Built on what tradition holds is the site of the martyrdom of St Peter, the first Pope, St Peter's Basilica replaced a previous basilica built by the Emperor Constantine in 324. The current basilica was begun in 1506 during the papacy of Julius II and was completed under Paul V in 1615. The dome, one of Rome's most prominent landmarks, was designed by Michelangelo, and completed after his death by his student, Giacomo della Porta. Stereoscopic card detail

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Self-portrait, 17th century. Artist: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Self-portrait, 17th century. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was an Italian artist, sculptor and architect who worked mainly in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his time and was one of the prominent figures in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. Found in the collection of the State Museum of History and Art, Serpukhov, Russia

© Fine Art Images