Consider Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy. Discuss the aspects of this work's form and content that exemplify the religious Baroque style supporting the Roman Catholic Church during the Counter-Reformation

What will be an ideal response?


As a response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church decided the arts should communicate religious themes in an emotional presentation, which gave rise to the Baroque style. Ecstasy of St. Theresa is a sculpture in the Cornaro Chapel and depicts a Spanish mystic nun, who is an important Counter-Reformation figure. The entire chapel employs all of Bernini's talents, creating a theatrical arena, with St. Theresa as the focal point, setting the drama as if on a stage. An angel wields a spear, and the figure falls back in a dramatic collapse, her face full of emotional rapture. The deeply cut folds of the garment create abrupt contrasts of light and shadow, illuminated from a hidden window. Bernini sought to create a theatrical performance, and the viewer is caught up in the theatrical experience.

Art & Culture

You might also like to view...

Blues harmony is distinctive because

A. it is improvised. B. it is performed by a complex interlocking of instruments. C. it is limited to the use of two chords. D. it utilizes unusual chord patterns.

Art & Culture

Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, and The Nutcracker were Nationalist operas

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Art & Culture

Which of the following is NOT a way in which Roman law developed during the imperial period?

A. Emperors assumed the power to make law themselves. B. Specialists in the science and theory of law rose to greater prominence. C. The ratification of the Twelve Tables eliminated legal distinctions among different classes. D. Roman laws were codified.

Art & Culture

The movement that divided all of Europe into Protestant and Catholic camps is called:

A. the Renaissance. B. the Reformation. C. the Crusades. D. Neo-Platonism. E. the Pazzi Conspiracy.

Art & Culture