Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Baldacchino

Bernini, Baldacchino, 1624-33, 100 feet high, gilded bronze (Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome)
Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker & Dr. Beth Harris. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

[@emanuelecastagna]

Regarding the bronze tiles stripped from the Pantheon, Roman citizens created this motto:"Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini", that translates as "What barbarians did not do, Barberini (family) did'.

[@oltedders]

Thank you for that. It's important to know the history of the Baldacchino and how the Pantheon suffered because of it.

[@jjstratford]

The beauty and awesome energy of that place and other centuries-old and millennia-old structures is simply incredible. Very moving if you just stay in those spaces and let your expectations fall away. In my own experience, places like the pyramids of Giza and the ancient walled city of Jerusalem will eventually (if not immediately) hit you with an overwhelming gut punch that is difficult to describe. Like a sudden epiphany of your place in the lineal history of mankind and all our collective experiences and revelations that have been lost to the winds of time. I mean… who knows what things our predecessors on this planet witnessed in their lives? Most of it is lost forever to the ever-turning wheels of time, ground to dust by the gears of “progress”… to exist forever as grains of sand in the dirt on which we build our present-day societies.

[@braziliannut666]

Love your videos ❤️

[@FrancescaMazza]

Great explanation and great atmosphere! The bakground music made me feel there!v :)

[@watchvids7802]

I was just about to comment on the random organ + singing in the background! :D

[@jperez7893]

the dome of St. Peter's is so high and the space under the dome so big, that you can put the Statue of Liberty under it and the torch would still not touch the interior of the dome

[@jimorr820]

The original use of a baldichino in churches related to recognizing g that birds often got into churches built nests there and were given to flying around. Birds being birds would leave their droppings any and everywhere. The early baldichinos would catch the droppings so they would not fall on the Holy Eucharist

[@jorgemarmol3664]

what makes the baldacchino baroque? how is it dramatic? can anyone help me. Thanks

[@smarthistoryvideos]

If you are looking for some of the key characteristics of the Baroque see our video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3ergXSYfcaip80 it focuses on painting and sculpture but you should be able to extrapolate.

[@roniquebreauxjordan1302]

🐝🐝🐝

[@howtubeable]

I didn't know what it was called, but I have always thought that the Baldacchino was an obstruction and an eyesore. It is too dark in contrast with the rest of the Basilica, and it obstructs the view.

[@APAL880]

I've never been there, but I would like to see what the church would look like if the Baldachino wasn't there. Also, I'm curious what the church would like with an iconostasis near the apse, since I'm Orthodox.

[@LS-mo3bo]

Bernini/Borromini?

[@smarthistoryvideos]

The Baldacchino is by Bernini, not Borromini.

[@LS-mo3bo]

@@smarthistoryvideos It seems there was some (technical?) help from Borromini, though it is difficult to know until which grade, apparently Bernini didn't give him the credit he deserved.

[@carlabroderick5508]

This was my feeling about St. Peter’s, that it is too immense. Especially when one realizes that indulgences sold to finance it resulted in the reformation and schism, the size is distressing, and makes the art incomprehensible. Thank you for expressing that near rejection I feel whenever I try to appreciate the basilica.

[@victoriap1561]

That makes no sense, the building was mostly constructed after the reformation. It's probably one of the reason is so grand.

[@paperinik69]

Distressing?😅

[@carlobrotto7132]

If you can't comprehend some of the greatest and most beautiful artworks in human history, then you do good in coming back to those hypocrite protestant churches where there's so much to admire, starting from the saxon-anglo celebration of business and hawking capitalism...😂! Study history : unlike westminster or others similar, St.Peter's was designed and made upon religious spirit, it was built years after reform and schism....

[@IjukeYOUout]

Bernini is my family's ancestors

[@dragonmartijn]

Did you inherit some of his genius? :)

[@user-ho2pf5mj5g]

❤🤍

[@dlwatib]

Those old Roman families had a lot of hubris, treating the Church like their personal property and putting their heraldic devices all over everything. We can all take some small comfort in the fact that God did not strike them dead for their sacrilege. Perhaps He will be equally merciful to us and forgive us our sins. But still, the Church is much richer for all their monument building. As an expression of sheer power you can't beat St. Peter's.

[@sitting_nut]

dlwatib moral condemnation of pope putting his family heraldry in church art shows a limited understanding, church is not some impersonal institution, where such things are not allowed, and where individual personality is not allowed to express itself and disappears. such boring impersonal institutions don't and wont last long, in contrast church lasts for millenniums ,

[@aalb1873]

You wrong!

[@scotthesener3042]

@@sitting_nut I agree. We Catholics are our Lord's family.

[@lwaldron9745]

Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini .

[@youyou3239]

Can you translate? the sentence I came up with sounds weird.

[@youyou3239]

nevermind, I googled it ha ha

[@SonicPhonic]

I appreciate the love of art this channel presents, but in the 21st Century, we need to start looking at ALL the history which helped create Bernini's masterpiece. Firstly, the Medici popes who insisted on building St. Peter's drove the RC Church into bankruptcy, and caused the Reformation which led to years of war in Europe. Secondly, the RC Church, which was controlled by a few wealthy Italian families, similar to the present-day Mafia, were mostly interested in money and power, not in God, Jesus Christ, the "Holy Spirit" or the soul. Thirdly, I suggest we look at St. Peter's and ask "where did all this marble, gold, silver and bronze come from?" These resources came from our Earth and much of the gold was taken from the "New World" with slaves from Africa. Let's start respecting our Earth and Indigenous Peoples. It's about time.

[@dinok7630]

No

[@AngelsEgg9]

preach!

[@Zveebo]

The problem is in telling other people how to do history, you are projecting your own biases and lack of respect for facts. In this case, you are assuming that St Peter’s was largely built from resources obtained by slaves - there is no evidence of that, and it would be extremely unlikely to be the case, given the Atlantic slave trade had not got going in a major way for most of the period St Peter’s was being built (indeed, Italy was still at this stage a hunting ground from the slavers of North Africa who enslaved many hundreds of thousands of Europeans in this period). As for the idea that resources came from the Earth - well that is not terribly insightful given everything comes from the Earth: in the case of St Peter’s the most interesting elements are actually the parts which were reused from previous structures. You are obviously free to make whatever history you wish, but don’t be so quick to condemn others.

[@victoriap1561]

If they had to strip the Pantheon for its copper I highly doubt the materials came from the americas

[@victoriap1561]

Also most of the gold that was taken for the americas they used slaved native Americans like the Potosi mines foe example