Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. Cornaro Chapel, Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. Rome, Italy. Gian Lorenzo Bernini. c. 1647- 1652 CE Marble, stucco and gilt bronze.

• Form
  • Marble is handled in a tactile way to reveal textures: skin is high gloss, feathers of angel are rougher, drapey is animated and fluid, clouds are roughly cut
  • Figures seem to float in space; the rays of God’s light symbolically illuminate the scene from behind
  • Natural light is redirected onto the sculpture from a window hidden above the work
  • The work captures a moment in time–a characteristic of Baroque art
• Patronage
  • Stage-like setting with the patrons, members of the Cornaro family, sitting in theater boxes looking on and commenting
• Function and Context
  • Saint Teresa was canonized in 1622; a new saint at the time.
  • This is a sculptural interpretation of Saint Teresa’s diary writings, in which she tells of her visions of God, many involving an angel descending with an arrow and plunging it into her
  • Saint Teresa’s pose suggests sexual exhaustion, a feeling that is consistent with her description of spiritual ecstasy in her diary entries.
  • This is a Counter-Reformation work that illustrates the use of images to increase piety and devotion among the Catholic Faithful
  • It is located inside Santa Maria della Vittoria
  • Cf. Visionary experience depicted in Lintel 25, Yaxchilan