Spectacle, Patronage, and the Jesuits in Baroque Rome - Sandrine Ferrans

Bernini’s sculpture of Saint Teresa of Avila is in the Corona Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria. The church commemorates the victory of Christian soldiers and is dedicated to Mary. The patron of the church is Scipione Borghese, the cardinal nephew of Pope Paul V. Saint Teresa of Avila was a nun who lived in Spain in the 16th century, specifically at height of the Catholic reformation. She is famous for a vision she had, in which she wrote:

“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 rank 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 to 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 cannot 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.”

 

Bernini translated her spiritual encounter and vision into a physical and almost sexual experience. Both figures are placed on a cloud, and the angel is pointing an arrow towards her. He appears extremely graceful and light. Bernini created a sharp contrast between thegracefulness and lightness of the angel, to the sharp and heavier texture of St. Teresa’s drapery to represent the angel’s holiness and Teresa’s earthliness. Furthermore, it is unbelievable that Bernini was able to create such different textures from the same marble, from drapery, to Teresa’s smooth skin, to the cloud. The ceiling has a fresco depicting a dove. Behind the figures are rays of gold as well as natural light, so it appears as if the rays of gold and light are being illuminated from the dove. Play on light is very characteristic of the Baroque. The figures are placed inside a space that consists of a broken pediment, coffered barrel vault, doorway, and columns. There are theater boxes on each side with figures reading Teresa’s vision, conversing about it, and watching the show. It is extremely theatrical and spectacle. Fredrico Cornoro, who is the Cardinal of Venice, and several members of the Cornoro family are depicted, and therefore this work also contains a donor portrait. It makes the viewer feel like we have the best spot to the show, and it breaks down the barrier of art and the viewer to make the viewer feel involve. Involving the viewer inspires faith and excites devotion which is critical during the counter reformation. Additionally, the work shows the Jesuit’s influence on Bernini. Bernini practiced the spiritual exercises, and the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila uses all the senses, and is a play on imagination. The work is also a unified program, characteristic of the Jesuits. 

Borromini’s church of S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane belongs to the Trinitarians, which is inscribed in the architecture of the church. It consists of an oval central plan. It takes the perfect circle and circular plan of the renaissance and creates more movement. Inside, there are intersections of interlocking triangles within an oval space. It is a sculpting form with geometry. The exquisitely carved rosets are slightly different, but create a unified beauty. The oval dome has different contrasting elements and forms that create a unified form as well as perfect harmonics. The church as a whole invokes the idea of harmonics within music and mathematics, which can be translated into the perfection and beauty of God.  The facade is traditional with unique additions, such as the curves, the way it angulates, and ripples. The surface of the facade is constantly moving.  However, it was criticized for being antithetical to classism, in which he not using human measurements. The courtyard is pristine geometry. Borromini’s church was definitely one of my favorite churches in Rome. 

Saint Vitalus is an ancient church that was renovated by the Society of Jesus, dedicated to the Saint and matyr Vitalus. It is close to the garden of the novitiate of the Jesuits. It contains Catholic propaganda to remind us of the martyrdoms of the past as well as the matyrdoms of today. The Jesuits were using matyrdoms as a way to teach, and therefore the paleochristian revival is part of the Jesuit cultural policy. There used to be three isles in the church, now there is only a single nave. The simplification of the church follows the decree of the council of Trent and the counter reformation. A single nave is ideal of preaching, which is characteristic of Jesuit architecture.

We then visited the Palazzo Farnese, which is now the French Embassy. The Palazzo Farnese is related to the Jesuits because it originally belonged to Pope Paul III, who established to the Society of Jesus. The ceiling fresco the Love of the Gods by Annibale Caracci was my favorite part of the Palazzo Farnese. It  The central scene is the Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne. I really admired this fresco because of the combination of quadroturra and quadro riportati. Using quadro riportati, the different scenes are framed as well as evoking quadraturra to create illusionism and fictive architecture. The ceiling is Baroque, theatrical, spectacle, and reminds the viewer of classical culture in Rome. 

By Sandrine Ferrans