Baroque

 The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, 1652. 





I choose this piece of artwork because I've always had this love for Mother Teresa. I've respected her calling to dedicate her life to humanitarianism. She cared for the dying and impoverished. She won a Nobel Prize and is also known for performing miracles on the sick and educating girls to help raise them out of poverty through education. It is no surprise to me that this painting uses religious imagery. the meaning behind the painting is that during St. Teresa's vision an angel pierces her heart with a fiery arrow of divine love. I believe the symbolism is great - Once you choose to dedicate your life to a life of service, working miracles through your heart filled with divine love that you may feel pain so strong that it pierces your skin like an arrow that's burning.

This painting was created 1647-1652 in Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Vittoria. 

This painting can be linked to The Council of Trent. In 1652 during The Council of Trent while the reformation of the Catholic Church was happening they were using powerful art with religious imagery in the churches and since a lot of the people were illiterate the art was used to educate the church's members and to help them understand more about their faith.

A common theme for Baroque artists was the miraculous moment where the divine met the earthly, the sacred intruded upon the profane. St. Teresa was a mystic nun who recorded an experience in which an angel came down and pierced her innards with the flaming arrow of divine love. The pain was great yet sweet and brought her into ecstasy with God. The Baroque use of light is also on display; the wooden rays come down in spectacular fashion and are lit by a yellow paneled window above the sculpture. (McKay, 2010).

At the heart of Martin Luther's drive to reform, the Church was a shift from the primacy of the image to that of the written word. Accompanying this ideological shift was the more practical concern about idolatry, which took the form of passionate sermons against religious imagery and, eventually, widespread acts of iconoclasm. In the face of these calls for reform, Pope Paul III ordered a comprehensive review of Roman Catholic doctrines and liturgical practices. This eighteen-year effort, known as the Council of Trent (1545-63), included a re-evaluation of the Church's policy on art and the sources, inspiration, and objectives of its patronage. The ornate church interior was singled out by reformers as evidence of the Catholic Church's worldliness, corruption, and widespread encouragement of idolatry among its adherents. In December 1563 the Council published guidelines on art, asserting the value of sacred images and the importance of their role in instructing the faithful. (Thirteen.org,2021).




Sources:


Brett & Kate McKay. “Baroque Art Basics.” The Art of Manliness, 19 Oct. 2010, www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-basics-of-art-the-baroque-period/.


Thirteen.org, 2021, www.thirteen.org/wnet/powerofart/berbios.php. Accessed 18 June 2021.


Comments

  1. Alex LongJune 21, 2021 at 5:50 AM

    Wow, Jessica, thank you for bringing this sculpture to my attention! The folds in Mother Teresa's robe are exquisite. So dramatic and profoundly mystical. And the texture on the cloud! There's so much movement, its slightly horrifying and awesome at the same time. I can certainly see "the sacred intruding upon the profane" in this piece.

    As much as I loathe censorship of any kind, I can't say I mind some of the sculptures we got as a result of the Reformation. This one is sublime.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hudson ParkerJune 23, 2021 at 3:07 PM

    Jessica,
    I appreciate your use of a sculpture for this blog. I feel that many of us are used to using paintings as artwork, so it is nice to see something different. I think it is neat that this sculpture has a background in teaching the church members about their faith. It's always cool when an art piece has a purpose and can live it out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tiare SimbahonJune 23, 2021 at 8:08 PM

    Hi Jessica!
    I find this piece also also very amazing. I haven't really looked into sculptures as much as I have seen famous paintings and the attention those bring. It's cool to see a whole other world of art that was formed. I love how something so stuck in place can still bring so much movement through the details; a very hard element to master in my opinion. It's cool to read about the story behind the art and I learned something new reading your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SamanthaJune 27, 2021 at 8:00 PM

    Jessica,

    I really enjoyed the fact that you went outside the box and used a sculpture for this assignment! The way that there is a massive amount of movement in such a fixed object is very cool to me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kisha LPAugust 8, 2021 at 12:50 PM

    Hi Jessica! Wow this is such an amazing piece. It reflects baroque art perfectly with its theatricality and use of light and dark colors to depict this moment. The folds in the clothing are incredible and it is even more impressive that it is made of marble. It looks as if the wind is rustling through them in this moment.

    What captures my attention is the expressions on the faces of St. Theresa and the Angel. St. Theresa described in this moment feeling pain but never wanting to leave that moment. That tranquility and serenity are reflected in her facial expression, while the angel seems to give a knowing smirk. What also comes to mind is the positioning of St. Theresa and the angel. The angel is above her which I think may symbolize the divine over herself.

    The stucco used for the light rays coming down is used and covered in gold leaf and the look to be on top of clouds. This is certainly an extravagant, life altering event that is depicted.

    ReplyDelete

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