Bernini
This morning Pope Paul VI celebrated mass on the steps of St Peter's in Rome and gave his blessing to 100,000 tourists and pilgrims crammed into the great Piazza.
Over three centuries ago Bernini designed this grandest outdoor ceremonial space in the world: perhaps in the entire history of architecture. Born 1598, died 1680,
Gian Lorenzo Bernini worked for eight popes and, as well as the colonnade outside, he enriched the interior of the Basilica.
But not all his art was religious. Four of Rome's most famous and exuberant fountains are his, and some of the finest and most erotic marble carvings.
Robert Hughes describes the long and fascinating life and the spectacular art of this master of the Baroque. From child prodigy to the ' secular cardinal' of Italian art, Bernini was a prolific painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. The scale and detail of his monu- ments make a feast of theatrical effects and visual pleasure.
Film cameraman JOHN MCGLASHAN
Film editor MARTIN CRUMP Producer LORNA PEGRAM