Beyond Michelangelo: The Deadly Rivalry between Borromini and Bernini

Meticulously researched over a ten-year period, Nick Mileti has pieced together a gripping account of one of the most famous, but largely unexamined, artistic rivalries ever—the one-sided rivalry between the architect, Francesco Borromini (the instigator), and GianLorenzo Bernini, the greatest overall artist in history. Without a doubt, a number of his startling, but logical, observations and conclusions will send Bernini, Borromini, and Baroque scholars scrambling back to their libraries and computers. ———– Everything came easy for GianLorenzo Bernini—his art, his style, even his loves. A confidant of monarchs, princes and popes, Bernini was a more talented sculptor and architect than Michelangelo, more successful with the ladies than Raphael, cooler than Guido Reni, and had more common sense than Galileo. The urbane Bernini was a sought-after conversationalist, got rich from his art, and even dressed nice. Bernini has been called the sanest genius who ever lived. Francesco Borromini’s life, on the other hand, was a daily struggle. His own worse enemy, he was one of the first afflicted with what is now called ‘artistic temperament.’ He was anti-social, morose, suspicious, quarrelsome, disdained money, and irritated everyone he felt was interfering with his artistic vision—especially his patrons. Worse, Borromini knocked on Bernini’s door all of his life and came up with a handful of marble dust. What does one do when faced with the impossible (self-imposed) task of topping the greatest all-around artist in history? Here’s what you do: For your entire adult life you try every devious, malicious trick you can think of. When nothing works, you kill yourself.