Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) created his artworks during a time when conceptist poetics (concettismo) represented the ultimate framework of modern poetry. This study describes and interprets the rhetorical nature of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's artworks against the backdrop of conceptist poetics as a defining rhetoric of the era. This is done by referencing texts such as Emanuele Tesauro's "Cannocchiale aristotelico" (1654) and "Idea delle perfette Imprese" (around 1620) or Matteo Peregrini's "Delle acutezze" (1639). Three major works by Bernini in Rome are examined as examples: the monument of Matilda of Tuscany and the pillars of the crossing in St. Peter's, as well as the Cornaro Chapel in S. Maria della Vittoria. By connecting the interpretations of the works with an emblematic approach aligned with conceptist poetics, a nuanced interpretation of the image-text units that define Bernini's works is achieved.