Pietro Bernini (6 May 1562 – 29 August 1629) was an Italian sculptor.[1] He was the father of one of the most famous artists of Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini,[2] as well as the sculptor-architect Luigi Bernini.
One of Pietro Bernini's best-known contributions to the city of Rome is the Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Old Boat) which resembles a beached ship and is located at the foot of the Spanish Steps. It was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII and built in 1627.[3] He also contributed to the Fountain of Neptune, Naples, completed between 1600 and 1601.
Initially collaborating with his son (for example on Boy with a Dragon in 1617) but later overshadowed by his talent, the elder Bernini ended his career as an independent sculptor around 1617, evidently happy to act as his son's assistant.[4] He died in Rome, aged 67.
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