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

Jake Morrissey’s book, The Genius in the Design, reveals the intense rivalry between two maestri, Gianlorenzo Bernini and his contemporary Francesco Borromini. The two artists were born only a year apart and both achieved success in the art world of seventeenth-century Rome. Though today, Bernini is the perhaps the better-known artist, it would be safe to say that both Bernini and Borromini should be credited with the invention and elaboration of the Roman Baroque style.

Bernini, the savvy courtier, curried the favor of five popes, while the melancholy Borromini, won only the dedication and patronage of two pontiffs. Early in their careers, Borromini and Bernini worked together for a short period of time, however they quickly went their separate ways and developed two entirely different means of expressing similar Baroque ideas.

This book - which blends a social history of Baroque Rome with the biographies of Bernini and Borromini - explores the
circumstances that brought these artists into a head-to-head competition that transformed Rome into one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but ultimately ended when Borromini took his own life.