Marble or flesh? Conjured into existence by a highly precocious 23-year-old sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, his mythological pieces shocked 17th century visitors to Scipione Borghese’s pleasure palace as much as they do today. No artist defined Baroque Rome more than Bernini. His sculptures stud the city, inside and out. Bernini set himself up to be the greatest magician of his craft that Europe had ever seen – to outshine the ancient Roman sculptors and even Michelangelo himself. Charming, handsome, arrogant and dangerous, Bernini’s story is the epitome of Baroque drama.