THE ECSTASY OF ST. Teresa d’Avila in ROME

 Sunday October 15 is the FEAST OF ST. TERESA D’AVILA.  You will find the ECSTASY OF ST. TERESA  sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Church of SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA near the Repubblica Metro Line A stop.  You can walk from Roma Termini or take the underground Metro Line A to the next stop that is Repubblica.  

The sculpture is large and is situated high up a wall well off the floor so you have to look up high to view it.  Personally I think we’d see more of it on the floor but it’s not coming down any time soon.  Its elevated position may attempt to add an ethereal element to an otherwise physically dominant portrayal of the Ecstasy of St. Teresa, at least that’s how Bernini saw it.  Or did he?  How did Bernini see Teresa’s ecstasy?

To Teresa it was divine love but with an Angel with a sly smirk on his face ready to pierce her heart with a golden spear of love to manifest her mystical union with God, and the look on St. Teresa’s face, you should experience all the layers of complexities in person.

Personally I’ve always seen a disconnect between St. Teresa and the Angel as if 2 different agendas were going on at the same time.  Maybe Bernini thought that St. Teresa wasn’t aware of the fullness of her ecstasy or was in denial or unknowingly possibly misrepresented it?  You really should see the play among Bernini, the Angel and Teresa for yourself.

One more thing, I’ve never seen a camera catch the voluminous rich full folds of Teresa’s gown.  Photos make her gown look flat and it is anything but.  It has a spatial dimension I’ve never seen captured in a photo.  It could be the elevation but I think it’s more than that.  The genius of Bernini made everything about this sculpture elusive.  There’s a final disconnect between viewer and the art and that breach may never be repaired and it’s why we keep returning to this place again and again.  





Sandra Panici, The Roman Pilgrim in Person 

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