Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the famed Italian Baroque sculptor of the 17th century, lived and worked by an audacious mantra: “Those who never dare to break the rules never surpass them.” Indeed, while the tempestuous artist’s work was funded primarily by the papacy, he interpreted religious subject matter with not only unparalleled skill, but also radical artistic license.

Bernini carved mighty gods and martyred saints into marble as many great sculptors working in the classical style, like Michelangelo, did before him. But he endowed his omnipotent subjects with a particularly human aspect, sculpting into their forms and expressions passionate emotions and carnal urges—and effectively revolutionizing three-dimensional art and the representation of the body.