Italian Cowboys Go France: Some Remarks on the Diary of the Cavaliere Bernini's Visit to France

In April 1664, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, superintendent of buildings for Louis XIV, requests Italian architects to submit designs for the Louvre. The superintendent obtains drawings from Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Rainaldi, and the unknown Candiani. Bernini is asked to submit a second design, which he submits by February of 1665. In April 1665, Bernini leaves for France. According to Domenico Bernini, son and biographer of Gian Lorenzo, Pope Alexander VII is forced to offer the expertise of his architect to the king of France as a reparation included in the secret agreements of the Treaty of Pisa. Bernini arrives in Paris on June 2, 1665. At the time, Louis XIV is twenty-six years old, Colbert is forty-five years old, and Bernini is sixty-six years old. While in Paris, Bernini produces a third design for the Louvre and executes a marble bust of the king. Paul Fréart de Chantelou keeps a detailed diary of the four-and- a-half month visit. Bernini leaves Paris on October 20, 1665.