Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpted this theatrical work between 1647 and 1652 for the Cornaro Chapel in Rome. The sculpture depicts Saint Teresa of Ávila in a moment of divine rapture, an angel preparing to pierce her heart with a golden arrow of God's love.

Bernini designed the entire chapel as a stage set. Bronze rays descend from a hidden window, bathing the white marble figures in golden light. Teresa's robes cascade in agitated folds, her head thrown back, mouth open, eyes half-closed. The angel smiles gently, holding his arrow like a lover about to strike. On the side walls, marble members of the Cornaro family watch from theater boxes.

The sculpture resides in the Santa Maria della Vittoria church in Rome, near Termini station. Teresa wrote that this vision left her "utterly consumed by the great love of God," and Bernini translated her words into stone with startling literalness. The work sparked controversy even in his time for its sensual intensity, but it remains the ultimate expression of Baroque religious art.