389 years ago yesterday, Borromini received his last payment for his work on the Baldacchino with the notation: “To Francesco Castelli 25 scudi for the present month of January for the drawings in full scale of the curvatures, the plants, mouldings, foliage, and other details that are to go on the ribs and cornices, and in addition he is obliged to make designs on the copper, and these are to be done so that the carpenters and those who beat the copper cannot err.” (From Portoghesi via Morrissey) Quite the responsibility to create drawings that prevent someone else from making a mistake! Notably, for the same month of work, Bernini made 10x that. The Baldacchino itself, standing nearly 95’ tall and reportedly weighing 100,000 pounds with bronze ganked from the Pantheon and San Pietro’s own dome, cost 200,000 scudi, the columns alone being 80,000. (Wittkower) . . #bernini #borromini #berninivborromini #roma #rome #baroque #baroquerivalries #baldacchino #sanpietro #saintpeters #vaticancity #italia #italian #italy #romanart #roman #artbattle #collaboration #frenemies #baroquemasters #rivals #rivalry #baroquearchitecture (at Rome, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFIOXZOUuT/?utm_medium=tumblr