More Reasons to Love Bernini

Like we needed any more reasons to love Bernini.

This morning, we visited two churches to see the differences between two of our favorite artist's chapels. First stop: Santa Maria della Vitorria, where we saw the breathtaking sculpture of St. Teresa in Ecstasy. In this exquisite chapel, St. Teresa is portrayed at the moment when, as in one of her visions, an angel is piercing her with a golden arrow, filling her with the agony and ecstasy of the Holy Spirit. Bernini's rendition of St. Teresa has inspired a lot of conversation over the years because he chooses to portray her so differently than previous artists. In Bernini's sculpture, St. Teresa is reclining and relaxed, drawn forward by the force of the arrow, but not actively participating in the event at all. She is simply the recipient of the gift of God's love. The angel in the composition is smiling yet sympathetic, with a gentle hand holding the golden spear, which is a break from the traditional representation of the angel as a hovering, forceful spirit. These small details have a big impact on the scene by shifting the focus from the actions of St. Teresa to the power of the Holy Spirit.

As far as the rest of the chapel is concerned, it is a striking example of bel composto, or the sense that all the unique components of the chapel work and flow together to create one beautiful, coherent composition. The marble in this chapel is rich in color, and Bernini's attention to color and light create great depth in a space that is really not very large. The whole chapel comes to life when the alcove housing the statue comes to life with the light from the window above, illuminating the scene as if the light were coming straight from heaven.

We witnessed our second example of bel composto in the chapel at San Francesco a Ripa in Trastevere, dedicated to Blessed Ludavica Albertoni. This chapel was strikingly different from the chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria because of its simplicity, both in design and decoration. While the chapel for St. Teresa was rich with color, marble, gold, and detail, the chapel for Ludavica was markedly plain with its white walls, minimal detail, and polished, simple portrait of Ludavica herself. However, despite the simplicity of the chapel, this area too exhibited great coherency between its individual segments. The focus of this chapel was not as much to impress the viewer, but to incite reflection upon Ludavica's great works and to illustrate the moment of her death when the Holy Spirit leaves her on its way up to heaven. The other major difference was the painting behind the statue of Ludavica of the Virgin Mary and Child, contributing to the holiness of the scene and giving the composition its main source of color.

The differences between these two chapels arise mostly from the different requirements of the patrons who commissioned them to be done. Even in their difference, however, it is apparent that Bernini was a master of bel composto, even under the most limited of budgets or the strictest specifications. As we wrap up our study of Bernini and Baroque art and architecture, we will certainly look back at these statues as spectacular examples of master sculpture.

After visiting the churches, most of us spent the afternoon working on finishing up assignments and wishing that we weren't already in the last two weeks of the program!

A presto!

Ciao,
Nicole