In what ways did Bernini go about uniting architecture, sculpting and painting to create what his biographer Filippo Baldnucci called ‘a beautiful whole’?

In what ways did Bernini go about uniting architecture, sculpting and painting to create what his biographer Filippo Baldnucci called 'a beautiful whole'?


Bernini went about the unification of sculpture, architecture and painting to a 'beautiful whole' in the commissions of a few chapels, particularly that of the Cornaro family in Santa Maria della Vittoria and with the building of three small churches notably San Andrea al Quirinale, Rome. It can be argued that Bernini right from the beginning of his career endeavoured to eliminate the barrier between the work of art and the beholder. Works such as his Pluto and Persephone (1621-25) surpassed the constraints of marble and invited the viewer to view the work from many angles. Even so Wittkower believes it was only when Bernini had the chance to 'carry out, not only a part with in an existing structure, but a whole, consisting of architecture, sculpture, decoration and painting' that he could elevate himself from normal existence 'to replace reality by a different, dream-like reality.'1
By the time Bernini participated in the decoration of the Barberini Chapel at Sant' Andrea della Valle, he would have had an experienced hand in matters of structure, embellishment, and applied decoration. These skills earned him important commissions like the renovations of the high altar of Santa Bibiana and the design of the crossing at St. Peter's. These acclaimed triumphs led to the unification of the arts seen in the chapels of the 1640's and 50's, which T.A Marder believes to be his chief contribution to Western art.
The concept of unifying the arts is known as bel composto or maraviglioso composto. These terms were mentioned specifically in the contemporary biographies of Filippo Baldinucci and Domenico Bernini. They refer to Bernini's unique ability to unite architecture, painting and sculpture 'to create a new genre in which the concepts of all three arts are conjoined to compelling effect'.2
Before we discuss ways in which he unified the arts in more detail, I feel it necessary to elaborate on the concept of bel composto. There had been much debate of whether sculpture or painting was the superior art form in the early sixteenth-century. It was believed that sculpture and painting were seen to have inherent limitations in their ability to carry