Playing with the Paragone: The Reliefs of Pietro Bernini: For Rudolf Preimesberger

Abstract

The writer discusses Pietro Bernini's engagement with the paragone, or the comparison of painting and sculpture, via an examination of the artist's relief sculpture. Paragone was one of the most widely discussed subjects in 16th-century theoretical literature. The writer contends that, notwithstanding the lack of theoretical pronouncements from him, Pietro was deeply informed by art theory. He goes on to examine the concept of paragone with respect to a range of Bernini's reliefs. Arguing that throughout his career, Pietro's works show an inventive and novel approach to the problems of relief sculpture and serve as eloquent testimony to his highly original theoretical reflection, he demonstrates how the paragone, as it concerned relief sculpture, was for the artist at once an inspiration, a challenge, and a conceptual factor in the creation of his reliefs.