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Ecstasy of St Theresa
The Ecstasy of St Theresa (alternatively St Teresa in Ecstasy) is a marble masterpiece sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which is part of his complete design of decoration and architecture of the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome completed in 1652 for the then ungodly sum of 12,000 scudi (~$120,000).[1] (http://www.thamesandhudson.com/books/Italian_Baroque_Sculpture/0500203075.mxs/37/31/)The entire ensemble was completed or overseen by a mature Bernini during the Pamphilj papacy of Innocent X, when the sculptor's involvement with the profligate expenses of the prior pope, Urban VIII (Barberini), had caused Bernini to fall out of papal patronage. Cardinal Federico Cornaro, son of a noble Venetian family, had chosen the church of the Discalced Carmelites for a burial chapel. The chapel chosen had previously depicted St. Paul in ecstasy, and the Cardinal replaced it with the ecstatic event undergone by the recently (1622), and first Carmelite saint.
The chapel is an explosion of colored marble, metal, and detail. Light filters though a window above Theresa, underscored by gilded rays. The dome is frescoed with the illusionistic cherub-filled sky with the descending light of the Holy Ghost allegorized as a pigeon. The two focal sculptural figures derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila's in her autobiography; Theresa (1515 - 1582), a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun. The chapter describes divine visions, including one where she saw a young, beautiful, and lambent angel standing aside her body:
I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my
very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so
surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying. (Chapter XXIX; Part 17 Teresa's[2] (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8120|Autobiography))
Critical Assessment
Modern critics, however, attribute these semi-syncopal psychologic experiences to orgasmic phenomena rather than a spiritual one. In particular, the body posture and facial expression of St Teresa in this depiction have caused others to assign her experience as one of sexual climax.[3] (http://www.criticalmethods.org/bodtwo.htm)
Titillating as such theory is, however, most serious scholars of Baroque art doubt that Bernini, a follower of the mystical excercises of followers of St. Ignatius of Loyola consciously intended to depict orgasm. Bernini here matures his attempt to express the facial and body expressions of a neurologic state of divine joy, and the results are a transfiguring coma, the so-called "sleep of God" so common to the mystics. It would have not been unusual for devout daily church-goers like Bernini to spend hours at prayer each day. Mystics like Theresa would affect days, often unfed, to achieve such visions.
This scenographic array unites lifelong themes for Bernini. True to Baroque, it illustrates a moment where divinity and earthly matter interact. The blend of architecture and sculpture is also baroque, with the holy ghost as light bathing or guided by the gilded rays framing the stature from windows atop the chapel, allowing the sky to enter church. It also has to capture an emotion equidistant from fear, joy, awe, and satisfaction. The effects are theatrical, including the discourse this renders among the flanking Cornaro pedigree in their oratory boxes, in various activities [4] (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/b/bernini/gianlore/biograph.html). The cherubic details repel the modern minimalist, they add to the notion that we are seeing a moment of time where God has intruded into one woman's soul, if not pierced her literal body.
Finally Bernini, as usual, shows staggering ability to mold stone into ripples of fabric. The virgin marble has lost its immaculate conception. The unpolished cloud looks superfluous, since Theresa's gown appears to suffice to allow her to levitate, if not force her or her observers to swoon. A divine wind ripples the gown of the angel, who bears a tickled expression of joy. If nothing else moves us, it should be our amazement at how Bernini has crumpled the statue's gown.
Other similar works by Bernini
- Blessed Ludovica ALbertoni in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa in Rome (1673)Death of Ludovica Albertoni(1671-74)[5] (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/b/bernini/gianlore/biograph.html).
- Martyrdom of St. Lawrence[6] (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/b/bernini/gianlore/biograph.html) (1614-15)
- Truth Unveiled by Time (1646-52). [7] (http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/everita.htm)
Other similar works influencing or influenced by Bernini
- Melchiore Caffa's Ste Rose of Lima (1665) in Lima, Peru
- Melchiore Caffa's Assumption of St Catherine.
- Stefano Maderno's sculpture of St Cecilia in her namesake church in Trastavere neighborhood (1600).
- Francisco Aprile and Ercole Ferrata's Sant'Anastasia in her namesake church in Rome in the basin between Palatine and Quirinal quarters [8] (http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi55.htm)
This sculpture is mentioned in Dan Brown's best-selling novel, Angels and Demons, as the 3rd altar of science of the Illuminati.
See also
Bibliography
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