Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Lore & Background

The commission was completed during the Pamphili papacy of Innocent X, who initially shunned Bernini's services. Without papal patronage, Bernini's studio was available to Cardinal Federico Cornaro, who chose the church of the Discalced Carmelites for his burial chapel. The site was the left transept, previously holding an image of 'St. Paul in Ecstasy', replaced by Bernini's dramatization of a religious experience of the first Discalced Carmelite saint, canonised in 1622. A small terracotta model of about 47 cm was created between 1644 and 1647, now in the Hermitage Museum, with traces of Bernini's fingerprints visible.

The two central figures derive from an episode in Teresa's autobiography, where she describes an angel thrusting a golden spear into her heart, causing both pain and sweetness. The group is illuminated by natural light from a hidden window, with gilded stucco rays. Teresa lies on a cloud, indicating a divine apparition. Life-size donor portraits of male Cornaro family members appear in theatre boxes. The aedicule, wall panels, and boxes are made from coloured marbles, while the vault has an illusionistic fresco of cherubs and a dove representing the Holy Ghost.

Reader's Guide

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is a key work of the High Roman Baroque, notable for its theatrical integration of sculpture, architecture, and painting. Bernini's design creates a staged scene where the Cornaro family appears to observe the supernatural event from boxes, blurring the line between viewer and artwork. The sculpture illustrates a moment of divine intrusion on an earthly body, with Bernini melding sensual and spiritual pleasure. Art historian Rudolf Wittkower noted that Bernini differentiated degrees of reality: the Cornaro family belong to the viewer's space, while Teresa's vision is raised to a separate sphere by the canopy and heavenly light.

Interpretations vary: some scholars argue for sexual implications, calling the work risqué or a peep show, while others contend Bernini faithfully followed Teresa's description and that the Church accepted erotic elements in mystical union. Critics like Anna Jameson wanted it destroyed, but the work remains influential. It has been referenced in literature (Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest), music (Peter Hammill, the Czech rock group The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa), and psychoanalysis (Jacques Lacan's Seminar XX). The sculpture's legacy endures as a masterful fusion of art and spirituality, provoking debate about the boundaries of religious representation.

Did You Know?

• A small terracotta model of about 47 cm, with Bernini's fingerprints still visible, is held by the Hermitage Museum.
• The sculpture replaced an earlier image of 'St. Paul in Ecstasy' in the left transept of the church.
• The Cornaro family members are depicted as life-size high-relief donor portraits in theatre boxes.
• The work cost 12,000 scudi, a princely sum at the time of its completion in 1652.