Saharah Iman M. Alonto English 41- XA Report # 13 Ecstasy of St.

Teresa Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini Basic Information Year/Period completed: 1652 Dimensions: twenty-four feet wide and forty-five feet high (24 X 45 ft.) Medium used: Marble Present Location: Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome

Interpretation/Analysis Looking at the three-dimensional artwork by Bernini, one can see the St. Teresas body, her closed eyes and half-open mouth while a cupid-like angel is about to aim at her with a golden arrow. In an iconic and semiotic perspective, the viewer tends to assume sexual connotations about the sculpture. Yet, if the context of the artwork is understood, the religious significance of it can also be comprehended. St. Teresa is a canonized nun who was known for her religious visions. In Berninis piece, it depicted one of her visions, which details the pleasure after being hit with an arrow by an angel, a symbolism of the experience of being unified with God. Bernini, who is a child prodigy during Baroque period, materialized this intense spiritual feeling through sexual figuration, a familiar concept to all. Through that way, an

ordinary viewer can easily recognize and relate to the emotion expressed by St. Teresa at the period of that vision, which is pleasure. In this given context, the title of the artwork is very appropriate for the physical and spiritual context that it relays which is the feeling of ecstasy, optimum happiness or pleasure. As a whole, the intriguing concept behind the sculpture is very effective in drawing the attention of the viewer. As a result, it invites the viewer to be one with God as well, in order to feel the same ecstasy felt by St. Teresa.

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