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ARTH 110

BAROQUE SCULPTURE: BERNINI

SLIDE LIST 13

 

 

 
 Bernini (1598-1680), David, 1623.  Michelangelo, David, 1501-4.

 

 
 Michelangelo, detail of the head of David. Bernini, detail of the head of David.

 

 
 Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1623-4.  Bernini, Pluto and Persephone, 1622.
 

Apollo Belvedere, Greek, late fourth century BC.

 

 
 Bernini, Cornaro Chapel, 1645-52. Sta. Maria della Vittoria, Rome.  Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Theresa, from the Cornaro Chapel.
  Bernini, members of the Cornaro Family overlooking the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa.
   

Question for Review

 

 
 Michelangelo, David, 1501-4.  Bernini, David, 1623.

Compare and contrast the styles of these works, and show how each is characteristic of the period which produced it.

EXCERPT FROM THE LIFE OF ST. THERESA

...Beside me, on the left hand, appeared an angel in bodily form, such as I am not in the habit of seeing except rarely. Though I often have visions of angels, I do not see them...But it was the Lord's will that I should see this angel in the following way. 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. They must be of the kind called cherubim, but they do not tell me their names. I know very well that there is a great difference between some angels and others, and between these others still, but I could not possibly explain it. In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point on fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he plunged 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 cannot possibly wish it to cease, or is anyone's soul then content with anything but God. This is not physical, but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it- even a considerable share. So gentle is this wooing which takes place between God and the soul that if anyone thinks I am lying, I pray God to grant him some experience of it.

 

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