Powers Matchless: The Pontificate of Urban VIII, the Baldachin, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Hermeneutics of Arts)

Powers Matchless is the first book-length study on the Baldachin inside St. Peters, Rome (1624-1633). It situates the monument in the center of Urban VIII's grand plan for his Pontificate (1623-1644) and critically evaluates the structure's design, complicated construction, and meaning in the context of the Pontiff's rearmament of Rome and the Vatican. This study also provides a new interpretation of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's beginnings and early development as an architect and impresario.