"Bernini: Sculpting in Clay"

Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) stands apart from his 17th-century contemporaries for his role as official artist of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, producing dramatic statues and church architecture that exalted the power of the Vatican, such as Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–1652) and the colonnade around St. Peter's Square. This show looks at his working methods by presenting preparatory drawings and small, fired-clay models that were the first steps in creating his monumental commissions.