Tea at Trianon: Bernini vs Borromini

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Bernini vs Borromini

From The Collector:

In the 17th century, at the time of the Counter-Reformation, Rome underwent a dramatic transformation as the Catholic Church leveraged architecture, urban planning, and art to visually assert its authority and inspire renewed devotion among the faithful. In visual culture, this was achieved by evoking emotional responses and a sense of awe through grandeur, movement, light, and dramatic contrasts. It was at this time that two renowned architects—Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Francesco Borromini (1599-1667)—crossed paths in the city and became proverbial rivals, not only because they competed for commissions and patronage but also due to their contrasting yet equally captivating styles.
Their different approaches to architectural design are particularly visible in their domes, which played a crucial role in Baroque architecture, serving both a symbolic and a practical function. On the one hand, by towering above surrounding buildings, they facilitated mobility across the city and helped to guide the faithful towards churches—something that was crucial at a time of increased pilgrimages. On the other hand, they were symbols of the heavens and served as portals connecting the immanent world of the faithful to the divine dimension. Let’s look at how Borromini’s and Bernini’s domes came to mark Rome’s skyline with diverging philosophies, forms, and ways for the beholder to approach Heaven. (Read more.)