| Ecstasy of Saint Teresa | |
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| Artist | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
| Year | 1647 (1647)–1652 |
| Catalogue | 48 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Marble |
| Dimensions | Life-size |
| Location | Santa Maria della Vittoria,Rome |
| Coordinates | 41°54′17″N12°29′39″E / 41.90472°N 12.49417°E /41.90472; 12.49417 |
| Preceded by | Raimondi Chapel |
| Followed by | Truth Unveiled by Time (Bernini) |
TheEcstasy of Saint Teresa (also known asSaint Teresa in Ecstasy;Italian:L'Estasi di Santa Teresa orSanta Teresa in estasi) is a sculpturalaltarpiece group in white marble set in an elevatedaedicule in the Cornaro Chapel of the church ofSanta Maria della Vittoria inRome.[1] It was designed and carved byGian Lorenzo Bernini, the leading sculptor of his day, who also designed the setting of the chapel in marble, stucco and paint. The commission was completed in 1652.
The ensemble includes at the sides two sets ofdonor portraits of members of theCornaro family, who watch the main central group as though in boxes in a theatre. The group is generally considered to be one of the sculptural masterpieces of the High RomanBaroque. The sculpture over the altar shows SaintTeresa of Ávila, a SpanishCarmelite nun (1515–1582), swooning in a state ofreligious ecstasy, while an angel holding a spear stands over her, following her own account of a vision she had.
The entire ensemble was overseen and completed by a mature Bernini during thePamphili papacy ofInnocent X. When Innocent acceded to the papal throne, he shunned Bernini's artistic services; the sculptor had been the favourite artist of the previous and profligateBarberini pope,Urban VIII. Without papal patronage, the services of Bernini's studio were therefore available to a patron such as the VenetianCardinal Federico Cornaro (1579–1653).
Cornaro had chosen the hitherto unremarkable church of theDiscalced Carmelites for his burial chapel.[a] The selected site for the chapel was the left transept that had previously held an image of 'St. Paul in Ecstasy', which was replaced by Bernini's dramatization of a religious experience undergone and related by the first DiscalcedCarmelite saint, who had been canonised not long before, in 1622.[2] It was completed in 1652 for the then princely sum of 12,000scudi.[b]
A small format terracotta model of about 47 cm (19 in) was created between 1644 and 1647. The sculpture represents the first embodiment of the project, with traces of Bernini's fingerprints still visible. The model belongs to theHermitage Museum's collection.[4]
The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described byTeresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography,The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:
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.[5]
The group is illuminated by natural light which filters through a hidden window in the dome of the surrounding aedicule, and underscored by gilded stucco rays. Teresa is shown lying on a cloud indicating that this is intended to be a divine apparition we are witnessing. Other witnesses appear on the side walls; life-sizehigh-reliefdonor portraits of male members of the Cornaro family, e.g. Cardinal Federico Cornaro and DogeGiovanni I Cornaro, are present and shown discussing the event in boxes as if at the theatre. Although the figures are executed in white marble, the aedicule, wall panels and theatre boxes are made from coloured marbles. Above, the vault of the chapel is frescoed with an illusionistic cherub-filled sky with the descending light of theHoly Ghost allegorized as a dove.
The art historianRudolf Wittkower wrote:
In spite of the pictorial character of the design as a whole, Bernini differentiated between various degrees of reality, the members of the Cornaro Chapel seem to be alive like ourselves. They belong to our space and our world. The supernatural event of Teresa's vision is raised to a sphere of its own, removed from that of the beholder mainly by virtue of the isolating canopy and the heavenly light.[6]
The effects are theatrical,[7] the Cornaro family seeming to observe the scene from their boxes,[8] and the chapel illustrates a moment where divinity intrudes on an earthly body. Caroline Babcock speaks of Bernini's melding of sensual and spiritual pleasure as both intentional and influential on artists and writers of the day.[9] Irving Lavin said "thetransverberation becomes a point of contact between earth and heaven, between matter and spirit".[10] As Bernini biographerFranco Mormando points out, although Bernini's point of departure for his depiction of Teresa's mystical experience was her own description, there were many details about the experience that she never specifies (e.g., the position of her body) and that Bernini simply supplied from his own artistic imagination, all with an aim of increasing the nearly transgressively sensual charge of the episode: "Certainly no other artist, in rendering the scene, before or after Bernini, dared as much in transforming the saint's appearance."[11]
Some scholars argue that there are sexual implications of the work. It has been called "decidely (sic) risqué";[12] "the most astounding peep show in art";[13] and "the grossest and most offensive example of Baroque art."[14] Some authors have argued that its popularity "has a lot to do with sex."[15][16] And by placing the sculpture in a theatrical setting, Bernini is accused of turning "a private moment into a very publicspectacle."[13] Victorian art criticAnna Jameson wanted it destroyed: "even those least prudish in matters of art, would here willingly throw the first stone."[17][18] Regarding arguments against sexual implications,Franco Mormando has said "none of these defenses are completely accurate."[11] andSimon Schama, has argued: "Critics and scholars tie themselves in knots, trying to avoid stating the obvious."[19]
Other scholars argue that there is no sexual content in the statue, saying:
| External videos | |
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 Ecstasy of Saint Teresa |
Media related toEcstasy of Saint Theresa of Avila by Bernini at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus | Landmarks of Rome Ecstasy of Saint Teresa | Succeeded by Raphael Rooms |
