Monday, October 20, 2008

Looking back at Rome -- Bernini's Angels

Fans of Gianlorenzo Bernini’s art flock to the bridge that spans the Tiber River in Rome, connecting Castel Sant’Angelo with the historic center of the city. This bridge, known as the Ponte Sant’Angelo, or Bridge of Angels, is notable for the ten statues of angels which line either side of the bridge. The angels are thought to be Bernini’s style for certain, but research has shown that the angels are actually “from the studio of Bernini” and probably designed by, but most likely not sculpted by, Bernini himself.

Bernini’s commission called on him to display the angels each holding an item from the passion.

But the savvy travel researcher knows enough to dig just a bit deeper and find the two angel sculptures that probably were (alas, no one is certain) sculpted by Bernini and are housed within a house of worship just steps off the via del Corso. These two angels can be found in Sant’Andrea delle Fratte.

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