How did Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s death affect Italy’s artistic influence in Europe?

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of his time, and his death in 1680 marked a significant turning point in European art history.

His passing signaled the end of Italy’s artistic hegemony in Europe, as the Baroque style he helped define was the final Italian movement to serve as an international standard. While the Baroque style he pioneered continued to be practiced for two more generations by various architects and artists across Europe—including figures like Carlo Fontana in Rome, J.B. Fischer von Erlach in Austria, and the Asam brothers in Bavaria—the era of Italy’s unchallenged dominance in setting the artistic direction for the continent concluded with his death. Bernini was the last of Italy’s remarkable series of universal geniuses, and his absence left a void that shifted the trajectory of European artistic influence.1