Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Most sculptures of that time were just of one figure. But Bernini had seen Michelangelo's famous sculpture of the "Pieta" which showed the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of her dead son, Jesus. Bernini made figures that were in groups and told stories. One of his famous groups comes from Roman Mythology. It shows the god, Apollo chasing a beautiful wood nymph (a sort of fairy) that he had fallen in love with. But her father had magic powers and suddenly turned his daughter into a tree. Bernini sculptured the very moment when her toes are turning into roots, her legs are becoming the trunk, and leaves are sprouting out of her hands and long hair. She has her mouth open and a look of horror on her face. No-one had ever tried to carve anything like that in marble before. The thing that is so amazing about Bernini's sculpture is that he has made the flesh, the wood, the leaves and the hair all look so real, even though they are all carved in white stone.