The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

Ecstasy of St. Teresa 

The Ecstasy of Teresa by Gian Bernini

The Ecstasy of Teresa was created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1647 and 1652. It is a depiction of a vision that St. Teresa had involving an angel. In her vision an angel came down and did not scare her but stabbed in the heart with an arrow many times. She said that she did not feel pain when this happened, but rather, she felt the love of God. She said this made her moan and scream because the feeling was so overwhelming. Bernini attempted to capture all of the emotion behind that vision within this piece.  Bernini was not only a sculptor but also a painter and an architect. This allowed him to mix media in this piece to paint marble and add depth and the illusion of levitation through his methods of display.

          

Gian Bernini

  Bernini was also different from other artists because he was very religious. This allows him to add more passion to this piece because he has a connection to the meaning. This piece is meant to draw people in and regain their interest in the Catholic Church. After the Renaissance it was the Catholic Church’s goal to regain people’s faith and interest in the church. They used captivating pieces like this to lure people in, an also make them feel closer to the spiritual realm. This piece is positioned in a larger alter with smaller pieces surrounding it that appearing to be glaring in at this piece. This creates the illusion of spectators, and as people stand there and enjoy the piece themselves, they too are spectators and are becoming ever more involved in the piece, and in the religion

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was one of the Catholic churches most important councils. This group was one of the main embodiment of the Counter Reformation. Their main goals were to draw people back to the Catholic Church. One way that they did this was by banning pieces of art that were too worldly or not of religious meaning. They worked to make the Protestant way of thinking come across as wrong, and they pointed out things that they did and stood for which were not in line with the Bible. They created decrees to outlaw Protestant ways of thinking and ban acts, and art that were not in line with pure religious intent.

The Connection

This piece is very well in line with what the Council of Trent was hoping for. They were pushing for artists such as Bernini to create pieces such as this. This piece draws a direct connection that pulls the spiritual realm closer. This piece also appeals to the Council because it is based off of a spiritual vision rather than being too worldly. This piece works as a form of Counter Reformation, which is that main intent of the Council of Trent.

My Opinion

I find this piece to be very interesting because of its attempt to connect the earthly realm to the spiritual realm. Here we can see that the entire painting is made from marble and then painted marble. This mixing of mediums was a specialty of Bernini’s but it also helped to define the two figures and distinguish them.

The Ecstasy of Teresa and Alter by Gian Bernini

 The Angel appears light and the wings of the angel appear light and feathery even though they are made of stone. The angel has a robe that is light and looks to flow with ease. St. Teresa has a robe which seems to be heavier and denser much like this world. I believe that the differences in these clothing types are meant to differ the earthly realm from the heavenly realm and show them drawing nearer. This coming together of the two worlds is directly related to the time period in which Catholic Counter Reformation is taking place and the Catholic Church is attempting to capture people and draw them in again after the renaissance. I believe that this depiction of St. Teresa’s vision is attempting to give people a connection they are missing because of their inability to have visions or connect with religion in that way.

Works Cited

Academy, Khan. Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. 2015. 1 10 2015 <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque-art1/baroque-italy/v/bernini-ecstasy-of-st-theresa>.

California, St.Mary's College of. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. 2006. 1 10 2015 <https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/the-ecstasy-of-saint-teresa>.

Learner, Annenberg. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. 2015. 1 10 2015 <http://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/work/98/>.

Harris, Ann S. Art and Architecture of the Seventeenth Century Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.

Harbison, Robert. Reflections on Baroque. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.