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Fountain outside of the Borghese Gallery

The Galleria Borghese had 3 of Bernini's famous statues carved from marble, David(who I previously wrote about), Apollo and Daphne, and the Rape of Proserpina. Of these three my favorite would have to be Apollo and Daphne. The statue of Apollo and Daphne can be viewed from so many different angles and you can interpret the statue in a different way at each angle. The main angle that spoke to me was where Daphne was in front of Apollo and the majority of the sculpture was taking up the whole composition.

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Bernini "Apollo and Daphne"

The negative space between Daphne'a arms and legs give the piece added dimension, and you have a great view of Daphne's transition into a tree. The detail Bernini created with the bark on the tree and the leaves coming out of her fingers took so much time and the piece has so many complex textures. It is a fantastic view in itself.

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Bernini "The Rape of Proserpina"

The lines created between the two people in the Rape of Proserpina are very dynamic. I do not understand the placement of the two headed dog around the back of the statue, other than to give the statue a third leg. This was my least favorite of the three, although it is still amazing in its own right.

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Bernini "David"

To recap what I previously wrote about Bernini's David, Te carving is done exceptionally well, in such an exceptional way, giving the statue movement in the arms and shape of the body.  The expression on his face shows determination, and every detail down to the veins in the legs are all well thought out.




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