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In their own words

Gian Lorenzo Bernini quotes

7 quotations, each verified against its source and credited to the work it comes from — the wording as Gian Lorenzo Bernini wrote or said it, not as the internet passes it around.

Let no one speak to me of anything small.

Qu'on ne me parle de rien qui soit petit.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini at his first audience with Louis XIV, recorded by Paul Fréart de Chantelou
I have seen, Sire, the palaces of the emperors and the popes, and those of the sovereign princes along the road from Rome to Paris. But for a king of France, a king of today, greater and more magnificent things must be made than any of them.

J'ai vu, Sire, … les palais des empereurs et des papes, ceux des princes souverains qui se sont trouvés sur la route de Rome à Paris, mais il faut faire pour un roi de France, un roi d'aujourd'hui, de plus grandes et magnifiques choses que tout cela.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini to Louis XIV, recorded by Paul Fréart de Chantelou
I am stealing.

Sto rubando.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini to Louis XIV, recorded by Paul Fréart de Chantelou
I have a great enemy in Paris, a very great enemy. It is the idea people here have of me.

Io ho un gran nemico a Parigi, ma un gran nemico … Il concetto che loro hanno di me.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, recorded by Paul Fréart de Chantelou
One ought to stop working at a certain age, because all men go into decline.

Il faudrait cesser de travailler … dans un certain âge; car tous les hommes vont déclinant.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, recorded by Paul Fréart de Chantelou
Signor Poussin is a painter who works from up there.

Il signor Poussin é un pittore che lavora di là

Gian Lorenzo Bernini on Nicolas Poussin, recorded by Paul Fréart de Chantelou
It was only right that this arm should rest a little before my death, having worked so hard in life.

bene era dovere, che questo braccio si riposasse alquanto prima della mia morte, avendo egli tanto fatigato in vita

Gian Lorenzo Bernini in his last illness, recorded by Filippo Baldinucci

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