Wednesday 22 February 2006

Bernini - 'Ecstacy of St Teresa'





More Bernini tonight, by popular demand. Tonight: Bernini's 'Ecstacy of St Teresa,' part sculpture, part theatre, part architecture, -- an integration of all three that transforms a simple story into great art.

Picture a Roman of 1647 seeing this. The light from above, the intimate chapel, the image of ecstacy, the puti lifting the robe... It's not too hard to see what Bernini was aiming at.

Ecstasy of St. Teresa, 1647-52, Marble, height c. 11' 6" (3.5m), Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome

TAGS: Architecture, Art, Sculpture

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Stunning.
One of my fantasies is to hold a dinner party and have people like Bernini as guests--imagine being able to ask them how the hell they achieve that kind of thing. What was going through his head at the time? Did he see it as a complete work to start with or did it evolve as he chipped away?

C.Rabbit.