Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Bernini (1652)

                This sculpture created by Bernini in the 17^th century depicts St. Theresa, a woman from the century before Bernini, who wrote an autobiography describing the visions she had.  This particular sculpture is depicting one scene where St. Theresa envisions that she is being repeatedly penetrated by an arrow that the angel in front of her is holding.  This piece follows the baroque style; it portrays the ideas of the painting in a very tangible way.  The angel is wearing a robe that is soft, loose, and flowing implying something otherworldly or holy while St. Theresa robe has many edges and corners built into it and her robe appears rough this gives her a much more earthly appearance when one looks at the art piece.  Bernini’s sculpture is in a chapel that was paid for by the Cornaro family.  In fact the Cornaro family was Bernini’s patron at the time meaning that they paid for much of his art that he created.

                This art piece is very flashy and exalts God.  The Golden rays of light descending on the scene induce a sense of the participants in the scene being higher than the viewer.  This coupled with the fact that this scene actual is elevated from the viewer really emphasizes that God is a higher being.