D’Annunzio, Bernini, and the Baroque prelude of Il Piacere

What is it about?

This essay documents how the Italian writer D'Annunzio first rediscovers the genius of the Baroque sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, after two centuries of critical rejection, opening up the path to his reappraisal in the 20th century.

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Why is it important?

In the established connection between D'Annunzio and Bernini (carried over through the protagonist of the former's novel "Il piacere"), the essay documents an early and underestimated point of suture between the Baroque and Modernism.