Franco Mormando

I read this for a literary prize as a first round reviewer.

It was interesting and informative. Mormando writes well and makes you feel like he really personally knew Bernini at times or at least live in Baroque Rome. However, it skips around a lot which, if you've read my previous reviews of biographies you'll know, I find irritating and distracting. He also makes it clear that there simply isn't a lot of documentation out there regarding Bernini's personal life so much of the book is about the people surrounding Bernini and the politics and conflicts of the era. While these are necessary to why Bernini is who he is and created some of what he created, it is also the reason for the book's subtitle.… (meer)