Bel Composto

Bel Composto a sculpture term attributed to Bernini. Beautiful whole or the effortless and harmonious synthesis of the arts of sculpture, architecture and painting.

“The opinion is widespread that Bernini was the first to attempt to unite architecture with sculpture and painting in such a manner that together they make a beautiful whole.” The words of Filippo Baldinucci, referring to Gian Lorenzo Bernini, have become a commonplace since Irving Lavin’s book Bernini and the Unity of the Visual Arts (1980). What is outlined here with the term “bel composto” (a beautiful whole) is however in no way limited to Bernini or even the Italian baroque in its aesthetic quality. And not only the three arts mentioned here are subsumed by it, but the list would have to be expanded to others: music, dance, poetry, all the way to ephemeral formats such as fireworks or fountains.