Simon Schamas

The opening of the documentary ; Simon Schamas, Power of Art, Bernini catches you off guard; here the commentary is describing the statue Ecstasy of St Theresa by Bernini done late in his career as “physical ecstasy in a spiritual experience”. I was not expecting that, he goes on to put into words ”no one before made marble so carnal” you could see the great detail the sculptor put into this piece, it look life like if not for the white marble, the details of the flesh, the hair the ruffles in the gown, Bernini got them right on all levels. Gian Lorenz Bernini was born in 1598, his father a Florentine sculptor knew his had talent at an early age. Bernini was able to impress the pope at the age of 8 with one of his drawings, by the age of 19 he was an established independent baroque sculptor with patronage form the Pope Paul V. He completed several sculptors during this time frame, the most noted one is the Apollo and Daphne 1622-24. When Pope …show more content…
In St. Teresa’s the vision in which an angel pierced her heart with a fiery arrow of divine love, she is very descriptive in the way she tells it. She was describing her soul with the union of god, her feeling of rapture during that one moment. The statue is Bernini’s interpretation of this exact moment, I think he got the details correct; it’s said to be one of his greatest works, this was his comeback piece and it worked. Form this he received the commissions for the Colonnade and piazza of St. Peter’s Basilica and in his later years the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni also great works of art. Once his fame returned he settled down, Bernini ended up having eleven children and dying at the age of 81. In his career he served eight popes, he was considered one of Europe’s greatest artists at the