The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was the leading Baroque sculptor and architect among other things. Bernini was able to create narratives of religious experiences through dramatization, which allowed him to create many magnificent works including St. Peter’s baldachin. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa was completed by 1652, which is in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. Bernini’s central sculpture figures are the nun, Teresa of Avila and an angel. The scene is from an episode of religious ecstasy that Teresa felt, which was described in her autobiography in “The Life of Teresa of Jesus” (1515-1582). Saint Teresa is the focal point of the chapel in white marble surrounded with polychromatic marble and is lighted from above. On the sides of the chapel contained the statues of the Cornaro family leaning out of their box seats as they are witnessing the event. With the theatrically setting of the statue, any observer needs to look at the entire chapel to fully experience the scene because more than just the central statue tells story that allows the viewer to witness the religious experience that is intensely physical as Teresa’s body is in ecstasy, an experience outside herself with God.  

PROPORTION:

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa encompasses Baroque era art techniques including realistic proportions. Teresa and the angel are both life sized. Furthermore, there are statues of the Cornaro family sitting in theater boxes on the sidewalls, who are life sized. The life sized subjects and witnesses allow the views to feel like they are apart of the experience because Teresa is so humanlike and the Cornaro family is witnessing the ecstasy with the viewer.

FACIAL EMOTION:

Similar to other Baroque art, facial emotion is a way to depict addition drama to increase the overall impact of the artwork to the viewers. Teresa looks like she is in a state of ecstasy because her mouth is open, which shows the intense divine seduction in her physical relationship with God that she cannot control. Furthermore, her head is sunk back and her eyes are half closed, which further dramatizes her personal relationship to God because she looks like she is about to collapse because she is overcome with God’s love. The viewers will also see that the angel is smiling. He appears to be happy, as he is about to spear Teresa during the divine experience. The Cornaro family in the boxes is watching and discussing the event, which increases the drama because they are representatives of the chapel who are watching Teresa’s ecstasy. 

MOVEMENT:

Movement is a technique used in the Baroque era to dramatize the art. Bernini depicted the moment that the divine is coming into a Teresa’s human body. There is intense energy created in the limp body of Teresa collapsed on the cloud. Teresa’s arm and leg have fallen to her side, dramatizing her ecstasy because she is not in control of her body, but God is. Furthermore, the angel is lifting Teresa’s clothing to insert the gold arrow into her allowing that viewers to see what is going to happen. Furthermore, because the viewer cannot see the statue attached to the ground, Teresa and the angel look as if they are floating on a cloud, which shows the divine experience occurring right before the viewer’s eyes. Furthermore, the Cornaro family is leaning forward or in conversation as they witness the event, which increases the dramatic experience for the viewer because even the chapel owners are focused on the ecstasy of Saint Teresa.