Gianlorenzo Bernini was born in 1598 and is one of the most influential sculptors of all time. His contemporaries said that his “influence on his time is without parallel in history”1. When one walks through Rome his works strike you in the face everywhere you turn. He spent most of his life working in Rome, creating major monuments you might know like “The Fountain of the Four Rivers” or “The Barcaccia” at the base of the Spanish Steps1. I can attest to this; I spent a week in Rome and his grand sculptures reared out everywhere in the center of the city. And if Bernini himself didn’t create the sculptures, they were created in his extravagant and expressionistic style1.
Bernini’s sculpture shows the animation principle of timing. Now, in animation, timing is the speed of action happening2, but since sculpture is a stationary medium I am defining it as the illusion of movement.
A BBC video showcasing Daphne and Apollo
Bernini’s “Daphne and Apollo” is one of the most technically stunning sculptures you can find. Bernini himself said that he never created another piece with such lightness1. It captures a single instant from Ovid’s poem, where the god Apollo finally catches the nymph he had been chasing. She prayed to a river god who transformed her into a tree just before Apollo caught her. Bernini captures not only the physical changes of Daphne, but the mental changes as well1. Apollo’s expression is caught between the triumph of catching Daphne and astonishment at her transformation. Bernini captures this one moment so skillfully that in person it’s hard to believe this is a marble statue and not living flesh.
1. Wallace, Robert. “The World of Bernini 1598-1680”, “Time-Life Books” (9, 10, 17)
2. Lightfoot, Nataha. “12 Principles”. Animation Toolworks.
http://www.animationtoolworks.com/library/article9.html
3. Video via YouTube
animationfoundation 
Posted on November 4, 2011
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