
When he visited Paris in 1665, Bernini addressed the students at the academy of painting and sculpture. He advised the scholars to work from classical models, quite than from nature. He informed the scholars, “When I had trouble with my first statue, I consulted the Antinous like an oracle.” That Antinous statue is understood right now because the Hermes of the Museo Pio-Clementino. In Prussia, Frederick II of Prussia was impressed by the Grand Trianon of the Palace of Versailles, and used it as the mannequin for his summer time residence, Sanssouci, in Potsdam, designed for him by Georg Wenzeslaus …




