The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome

Good perspective on these two Baroque architects and their careers

The top edge of the book was cut off at an angle, taking all page numbers w it. Amazon website made it a pain to try to talk to a human (no menu options fit), so kept it. But being a teacher who wants to be able to reference things, the chopped top is annoying.

Detailed sometimes too detailed history of the competition of two superb architects whose designs added immeasurably to Rome. It would be a great visit to Rome just to visit each of the projects that Bernini or Borromini designed. And of course eat pasta.

When I was 18 I entered college to study architecture. Like almost all my classmates I revered the great modern architects, Sullivan, Wright, Mies, and Le Corbusier. Unlike my classmates I was also fascinated by history and this fascination and my love of architecture led to a journey of discovery. During that journey I developed a fondness for the symmetry, stability, and rhythms of Renaissance architecture. Then I found Borromini and Bernini and the sensuality and dynamism of their forms and I fell in love. In light of this I am probably not a good judge of the general appeal of this book. It is long on architectural descriptions and critically short on needed illustrations and photographs. A picture is worth a thousand words and a book on the work of any architect requires my illustration that verbalization. This is the one fault of this book otherwise it is an excellent treatment of the lives and works of these two incomparable artists.

This well-written book provides great insight to the two men of artistic genius. Very “readable” with chapters following both men chronologically through their careers.

This was a fantastic read both with respect to the history of 17th century Rome, the background of the buildings which both Bernini and Borromini worked on, and the other figures involved. The ingenious narrative will, after discussing a certain issue, backtrack just a bit, like highlighting an issue but then focusing on the brighter details, as Morrissey will do with his careful descriptions of architecture. All in all, fascinating, historically astute, giving important history but not overwhelming you with every detail of every building. I would have given it 4 stars, but there are simply not enough pictures, which makes it difficult when we are reading descriptions of the architectural effects, and we have to imagine it without seeing the artist's effect. What is more boring than "let me tell you about a painting!".

A wonderful glimpse at a nearly forgotten Boroque architect who, because of his perhaps flawed personality struggled in the shadow of his contemporary rival, Bernini. He left some special and unique architectural wonders. Worth another trip to Rome to explore.

This book is a wonderful find for someone who is interested in the Baroque period and especially in the tumultuous relationship between Bernini and Borromini. I chose to read this book as a supplement to my Baroque art class and it has helped me immensely. Even though it is a historical depiction, citing many sources and historical events of the seventeenth century, it reads as a novel. You get enveloped in both of these characters and their lives and become entangled in this rivalry that really shaped the architecture of this period. Morrissey does a great job at providing enough historical evidence to set the stage without making the text dry and boring. If you have a true interest in Baroque art/architecture, this is a wonderful read that will only further your passion for Rome in the Baroque period.

When this volume arrived, I was pleased; it was the hardcover I had ordered and the pages were cut badly, giving it an unusual, unique and real book feel, as though the publishers had been trying a prototype to see if it worked, rather like the people it was about. When I turned to the title page to discover it was a first edition, I was even more pleased. (I am not sure if there was a second edition!)The book is sparsely illustrated, which is unusual for a book fundamentally about architecture, the architecture of two men - the gracious, diplomatic Gian Lorenzo Bernini,(1598 - 1680), who enjoyed the favour of popes and princes and lived easily in their company and Francesco Borromini,(1599 - 1667), equally inspired as an architect but one for whom his patrons and the other movers and shakers in Rome presented a social challenge, one he frequently failed to meet.Taking sixteenth century Rome as the backdrop, the book charts (mainly in text) how these two and their intense rivalry changed the architecture of Rome to the city we know today, like another well-known rivalry a century before.He captures the attention quickly (especially for a book on architecture: "Suicide is never an easy death. Its details can be simply, its execution effortless, even graceful." So he begins the sad details of the death of Borromini. This technique using the opening sentence to set the scene works well (Dan Brown-ish). Section Eight begins: "For the fortunes of the two men were both about to change - in ways neither of them could have expected or anticipated." (P 165)Campaniles, churches, tombs and residences are the central settings of their lives and their relationship and working lives the core of the book, carved in stone with the pontiffs of the time setting the directions: Gregory XV (1621-23), Urban VIII (1623-44), Innocent X (1644-55), Alexander VII (1655-67), Clement IX (1667-69) and Clement X (1670-76).Although I regularly wished I could see an illustration on the pages to show me the magnificent buildings being built, because the information in the book is so detailed, often the words suffice; at other times, again using the detail from the text, "Googling" the names brought up the buildings in question. How strange to see a grand Barque building in all its effulgent, extravagant beauty but reading about the angry and fierce rivalry which created it.Enjoyable and interesting - recommended although there are more modern texts dealing with this period in a more lavish and better illustrated way, e.g. F MORMANDO, "Bernini: His Life and His Rome", 2011, BLUNT, A, "Borromini", 2006 and, of course, their names are in every guide book every written about Rome!

Art History has a habit of throwing up, once every century or so, a clash between two titans. Think of Raphael and Michelangelo in the 16th century, Ingres and Delacroix in the 18th century, or Picasso and Matisse in the 20th century. In the 17th century the duel was between Bernini and Borromini, the battle was fought out in a single arena, Rome, and the weapon of choice was architecture, more specifically, the architecture of the Baroque. Bernini had other weapons in his arsenal, sculpture and painting to name but two. Borromini had only one, but in that he was a genius. Their clash lasted over four decades, only coming to an end when Borromini took his own life, in 1667.And Jake Morrissey's book, enlivened with dramatic incidents and sparkling anecdotes, is an entertaining journey through one of the city's most creative periods. In addition to writing with panache about some of the most important buildings in the history of architecture, the author is also keen to give his reader a very real sense of daily life in Papal Rome, the centre of patronage and artistic power in the 17th century. While I cannot agree with Morrissey's claim that the rivalry between Bernini and Borromini transformed Rome, it did spawn a number of architectural masterpieces, all of which are still to be seen, providing yet another reason to visit this remarkable city.The only reason the book fails to merit five stars is the lamentable paucity of illustrations.

I learned a lot with this book, it’s so detailed with the information and so entertaining and engaging.

The book itself was okay, a tale of Bernini and Borromini that did rather make them appear to be the only architects in Rome. Morrissey makes the odd slip-up, but is generally reliable and sourced. A tale that was interesting, but which could have been better with more illustration. Unfortunately, the Kindle edition doesn't even have the scant illustration that the paper edition has - there are no illustrations at all. And for anyone writing an essay, I must warn you that there are no page numbers in this Kindle book. I was rather disappointed to have to to the library for a paper copy having bought the Kindle edition.

Ich schließe mich den anderen Meinungen an, das Buch ist nicht übermäßig spannend geschrieben. Da muss man spannenden Inhalt eher trocken kauen.Aber der Inhalt: zwei Architekten aus unterschiedlichen Schichten bauen im Rom der Renaissance um die Wette kleine(!) Kirchen. Und den Peters Dom. Aber die gestalterischen Hintergründe der kleinen Projekte sind faszinierend.