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 106 Renaissance Architecture. nor Gothic. Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598 — 1680) was the chief master of this style, and the extent to which unmeaning and capricious decoration was indulged in is seen in his bronze baldacchino (i. e. canopy) covering the high altar of St. Peter's. His greatest architectural work is the colossal colonnade in front of St. Peter's (Fig. 50). Bernini was also famous as a sculptor. One of his best works is a group of Apollo and Daphne, finished in his eighteenth year. His rival, Francesco Borromini (1599 — 1667), endeavoured to outdo him by even greater exagger- ation of ornament. From his buildings rectilinear forms disappear almost entirely, — even the gables of the windows, the cornices, and the entablatures are broken and con- torted, so that all regularity of design is lost, and an effect produced of painful confusion and instability. In the eighteenth century architecture recovered, espe- cially in France, from the exaggeration of the previous period, and a simpler and more dignified style prevailed, in which an attempt was made to return to classical forms ; but the many important buildings erected were, though correct, deficient in interest as works of art ; for the creative power which had given character to the productions of the great Roman school, founded by Michelangelo, was wanting ; and, in spite of their vast size and the richness and luxuriance of their decorations, they remained cold, unmeaning structures. Whilst the style of the Renaissance rapidly made its way in Italy, to the almost total exclusion of any other, the other countries of Europe still remained true to Gothic traditions, and it was not until the sixteenth century was considerably advanced that the classic revival spread to France, England, etc.