Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, 1647-1652
"Bernini based the central sculpture on a vision described by Saint Teresa of Γvila. She was a Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic who had died in 1582. She had been canonized in 1622. In her writings, Teresa described a moment when an angel pierced her heart with a burning arrow. The pain was intense, but also filled with divine love. She called it a spiritual ecstasy:
βI saw in his hand a long golden spear, and at the point of the spear there seemed to be a little fire. He seemed to me to be piercing my heart several times, so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he withdrew it, I felt that I was completely filled with the love of God.β
Bernini turned this vision into marble. The sculpture shows Teresa in a state of rapture. She lies on a cloud. Her body is limp, her head thrown back, her mouth open. The angel stands above her with a gentle smile, holding the arrow. The folds of Teresaβs robe are heavy and chaotic. The angelβs body is smooth and light. The contrast is striking.
