Bernini-Angel or Demon?

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), was a dominant force in sculpture during the Baroque period. He has developed his style and produced a dynamic type of sculpture. He regarded the garments as a means to sustain a spiritual concept. The fall of drapery seems to support and participate in the psychological and emotional attitude of the figure. The St Bibiana is his first religious sculpture on which emotions are transmitted via the folds of drapery and crevises in the saint’s robe. This play of light and drapery folds would also be revealed in his following work of art; the Longinus. This abstract play of folds and crevasses of light will become Bernini’s hallmark. During the course of this paper, Bernini’s use of light and drapery folds to create a dynamic effect will be discussed. This will be demonstrated by means of detailing various works of art from both his early and his late works. Works of art that will be discussed include St BIbiana, and Longinus from 1630’s and some of his later works including the ecstasy of St Teresa, Blessed Ludovica and the Cathedra Petri.

St Bibiana

Early in 1624 the body of St Bibiana was found. Pope Urban VIII used the occasion to restore and redecorate the church. Bernini was commissioned to produce a statue of the saint. This was Bernini’s first commission of a religious statue and he depicted St Bibiana in the glory of her life and the acceptance of her martyrdom. In her left hand she is holding the palm while the right hand rests on the column shaft. This functioned as a symbol on two levels; her own martyrdom, but also of her courage. Her slightly bent head and her raised right hand denote her union with God.

In St Bibiana, for the first time the fall of the drapery seems to support and to participate in the mental attitude of the figure[1]. Her robe is animated, and the folds above her left hand are free of gravity, these both indicate the spiritual aspect of St Bibiana’s life. The Saint’s devotion can be seen in the dramatic fall of the drapery, the movement of her body and also in the expression on her face. The figure is placed in an architectural aedicule of classical forms designed by Bernini[2]. This was a device used by Bernini to ‘anchor’ his statues to their surroundings to assure it would be viewed from a single principle viewpoint. The way the robes folds and crevices swirl against gravitational force was an innovative principle. In classical sculpture robes would fall in straight vertical lines towards the ground. Bernini represented the agitated drapery in the figure to symbolize the emotional turmoil of the martyred saint.

St Longinus

The next decisive step in the conquest of the body by dramatically conceived drapery is the monumental Longinus[3] 1629-38, Rome, St Peter’s. Bernini decided to exploit the dramatic moment when Longinus, the Roman centurion present at the Crucifixion, acknowledged Christ to be the son of God. Bernini conveyed this by the expansively spread arms (a pose unprecedented for statuary), by the cascades of drapery and the disheveled locks of hair.

Fig 2: Gianlorenzo Bernini: St Longinus, 1629-38, Rome, St Peter’s

Three strands of folds radiate from a nodal point underneath his left arm. This vertical streamline of folds lead the eye towards the holy Lance held in the right arm of the saint.

Ecstasy of St Teresa di Avila

Of Bernini's many Roman creations, the one that the artist himself most admired was his design for the Cornaro Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, a work he executed between 1645 and 1652. Bernini designed a complete stage-like setting that reproduced the saint's miraculous visitation by an angelic messenger. This work of art depicts the seraph piercing St Theresa’s heart with fiery arrow of divine love, symbol of the saint’s mystical union with Christ.

RomeS. Maria della Vittoria, Coronaro Chapel

To suggest this mixture of mingled pain and joy, Bernini relied on his already well-established language of flowing lines and polished drapery. The folds of St. Teresa's habit fall into elegant shapes that suggest movement and the inner turmoil and sweetness of her experience. The angel is on fire through representation of the drapery. To enhance this effect, Bernini used a complex combination of colour and light. St Teresa’s vision, the focal point of the whole composition, is dramatically accentuated by the contrast between the dark framing columns and the highly polished whiteness of the group.[4] Bernini further enhances the effect and involves the spectator into the saint’s experience by using concealed source of light. The directed heavenly light, as used by Bernini sanctifies the objects and persons struck by it and single them out as recipients of divine grace[5]. The statue depicts a remarkable mystic experience related by S. Teresa. The artist seems to be reading this excerpt and adheres to the Saint’s meticulous description of the event which must be regarded the acme of her life.

‘Beside me on the left appeared an angel in bodily form . . . He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest ranks of angels, who seem to be all on fire . . . In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one can not possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it -- even a considerable share.’

Light plays an important role in the effect that the artist wants to convey to the spectator. Daylight streams through vertical windows outside the casing of the niche. This is filtered through the above chamber and finally shimmers through the oculus down the golden rays of the sculpture itself, as if it is the true light of God. Bernini restricted the light and altered the color to give the effect that the scene was taking place somewhere between reality and ethereal. No sculptor before Bernini, attempted to use light in this way. With his directed light Bernini had found a way of bringing home to the faithful an intensified experience of the supra-natural[6] Bernini's Cornaro Chapel is a complete setting in which sculpture, painting, architecture, and the decorative arts all merge to provide a complete sensory experience to the spectator.

Blessed Ludovica Albertoni

Bernini's greatest late work is at the Altieri Chapel in San Francesco a Ripa in Rome. The relatively deep space above the altar reveals a statue representing the death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni. Ludovica (died in 1533) was beatified in 1671 and the sculptor was commissioned by Cardinal Albertoni to make a sculpture for commemorating the event.

Cappella Altieri, San Francesco a Ripa, Rome

The background here is simple and at the back there is a painted altarpiece[7]. The sculpture of the dying Ludovica is placed above the altar where she lies at the bottom of a large volume of space. The saint is illuminated by a heavenly light that plays on the drapery gathered over her recumbent figure. Her hands weakly clutching her breast make explicit her painful death. The scene is rather theatrical with the lighting coming from a hidden window above the left of her head and greater contortions of the saint that are also reflected in the drapery folds. The effect of light is multiplied by the decorative features dividing the dying from the believers.

Cathedra Petri

Cathedra Petri was erected between 1657 and 1665, enshrining St. Peter’s symbolic chair in a bronze throne, four Fathers of the Church as well as countless angels. The seat is seemingly supported by four imposing bronze figures representing theological doctors of the early church: Saints Ambrose, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Augustine. Above, a golden glory of angels on clouds and rays of light emanates from the Dove of the Holy Spirit, which is painted on an oval window. The light coming from a natural source (the window of the apse) is part of the composition, similarly than in the two already mentioned great compositions, the ecstasy of Saint Theresa and in the tomb Ludovica Albertoni.

Constantine

Bernini's costantine represents the Roman emperor who first recognized the cross and accepted the Christian faith. It stands at the entrance of the Vatican Palace, beside the grand staircase or Scala Regia. The emperor on horseback is set on a pedestal, with a drapery behind him fluttering in the wind.

The drapery behind him augments the dramatic effect of the scene and creates a theatrical scenography, for this is not simply an equestrian monument. This is a dramatic history-piece illustrating a precise event of constantine’s life; the historically and emotionally decisive moment of conversion in face of the miraculous appearance of the cross[8]. The first Christian emperor is placed in a subtle psychological tension, since the prancing horse expresses its own pent-up dynamism, while the curtain behind is shaken by the wind, in a representation. Again light plays a very important role in this setting. The light reflecting on the statue creates more dynamism by reflecting on the drapery folds as well as representing divine light.

Conclusion

Bernini’s success as a sculpture can be seen within his ability to depict universally significant emotions that lead to identification with the mood that is symbolized in the figure. His ability to suggest textures of skin or draperies as well as to capture emotion and movement in sculpture acquired new heights in sculpture. Bernini was the first sculptor to realize the dramatic potential of light in a sculptural complex, this was ad operated in a number of his masterpieces. The above discussed examples are only to mention a few of his works and illustrate the use of the effects of light and drapery folds. The dynamism that he managed to create through these effects was unparalleled. This was even more fully realized in Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, were the concealed source of light illuminate the saint and the smiling angel. Bernini was truly a virtuoso in managing to merge sculpture and architecture and created a total work of art.