Press and Praise for An Elephant in Rome
An Elephant in Rome
Press Coverage
An Elephant in Rome: Bernini, the Pope, and the Making of the Eternal City by Loyd Grossman explores the life and work of artist and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and his relationship with Pope Alexander VII as one of the greatest artistic double acts in history.
Published on 30 July 2020 by Pallas Athene, An Elephant in Rome was an Amazon bestseller on launch and a Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year. It featured in publications including The Daily Telegraph, The Times, TLS, Financial Times, Literary Review, BBC History Magazine, The Idler, Country Life, Catholic Herald, The Tablet, Reader’s Digest, Art UK, BBC Radio 4 and elsewhere.
Praise for the book:
“Lively and Informative”
– The Sunday Times
“How this sculpture came to be- why an elephant, why an obelisk, why Minerva- makes a good story, and the personalities, although the are now in rather fuzzy focus through lack of information, become intriguing. In fact the real heroine of Grossman’s book is the city itself: Rome, with its layers of history and piled up strata of culture influences.”
– Financial Times
“A hugely engaging read that helps explain how Rome was re-invented by the papacy in the 17th century as caput mundi, ‘the head of the world’”
– Country Life (Book of the Week)
“An Elephant in Rome is a fascinating study of papal intrigue, art history, urban architecture, soft power and creative relationships that tells a lesser known side of Roman history.”
– The Idler
“An elegant telling of the story of the creation of Baroque Rome by Bernini and his papal sponsors.”
– The Times
“A scholarly yet thoroughly jolly book about the sculptor and architect who left a greater mark on Rome than anyone else in history.”
– Catholic herald
“A thoroughly engaging tribute to a Baroque hero and his equally illustrious patron-collaborator.”
– Literary Review
Other selected coverage:
An Elephant in Rome extract in The Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/what-to-see/elephant-rome-story-behind-citys-oddest-attraction/
New Statesman recommended read
NS Recommends: new books from Helen Macdonald, Vincent Bevins and Loyd Grossman (newstatesman.com)
Loyd Grossman interviewed on the Spectator Books podcast about An Elephant in Rome
https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/loyd-grossman-an-elephant-in-rome
The Tablet cover feature
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/issue-landing/364
Bernini’s Rome, article for The Oldie
Loyd Grossman - Bernini's Rome - The Oldie
“6 Surprising Things about Bernini”, Readers Digest
6 Fascinating facts about Bernini - Reader's Digest
Break Out Culture podcast interview
Episode #07 - ‘Saucy’ Loyd Grossman’s Roman Holiday by Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House • A podcast on Anchor
To purchase a copy of An Elephant in Rome: Bernini, the Pope and the Making of the Eternal City by Loyd Grossman, visit:
https://www.loyd-grossman.com/books