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The Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Alvebertoni |
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written
by julia625 / 10.24.2005 |
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| The Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni |
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Assignment |
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I had heard the rumors of two scandalous sculptures which depicted women in somewhat compromising positions and were housed by Roman Catholic Churches. I was expecting a mild portrayal of happiness, and was pleasantly surprised by the extreme that the sculptor Bernini had created. When I first saw the Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni, in the church San Francesco a Rippa, my eyes were immediately drawn to her face. The carefully positioned light illuminating her expressive features made it impossible, at first glance, to look elsewhere. Although I was drawn to her face initially, my eyes simply acknowledged her facial features then instantly followed the curve of her jaw line down to her neck. Despite the fact that the light is intended to highlight her face, I couldn’t help but focus my thoughts and attention more on the throat. While her face shows some degree of happiness, her neck is what really reveals her emotional state. The neck of this woman is unnaturally arched backwards at an angle that frankly looks painful. There is no way that this position is comfortable; it is probably causing her a significant amount of pain. The only reason that someone would have a head and neck twisted like that would be if they were experiencing other physical, or perhaps emotional, feelings that surpassed any external hurt the body may have been feeling.
This woman is obviously in a state of pure ecstasy. If you can not see it in her throat, the rest of her body language is screaming it as well. Her head is thrown back, neck outstretched, eyes closed, hand clutched to her breast, knee pushing half up against her bed, and mouth half open so realistically you can almost hear her sounds of bliss. Even the cloth covering her body is wrinkled, showing her physical movement, possibly squirming trying to escape the body that is restricting her to the earth she has obviously psychologically surpassed.
I can’t help but smile when I look at her. The pure and genuine ecstasy that she is obviously experiencing is a very selfish emotion. It is clear to me why this portrait is considered scandalous. Most noticeably, her pose is so blatantly sexual that the church surely has a problem with it. Slightly more subtle is the realization that elation as extreme as what she is obviously feeling is purely selfish. She is not considering anyone but herself in the private moment captured in this sculpture. Since the Catholic Church values selflessness as a virtue of a good Christian, this selfish act is surely frowned upon by the powers that be. I would imagine that the only reason this sculpture is allowed in the church is that it is supposed to signify the relationship between this woman and God. I can’t help but wonder, however, who Bernini was really thinking of when he sculpted this alarmingly realistic portrayal of ecstasy.
Bernini’s second sculpture, The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, shares many characteristics with The Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni. Both show a woman obviously caught in the throes of ecstasy. Their bodies show their pleasure in very similar ways; entire bodies engaged, backs arched, eyes half closed, legs and arms posed, animated hands, facial expression, etc... The one thing that really defines the second sculpture is the addition of an angel above the woman. Although this doesn’t remove the sexual undertone, it makes it perfectly clear that the relationship portrayed is one with God. The act of Cupid piercing Saint Theresa with an arrow reminds the viewer that the relationship with God is so powerful that it surpasses, and even possibly supplements, any physical pleasure.
The addition of the angel highlights the main difference between the two sculptures. It almost seems as though Bernini created the Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni first, in the exact way that he wanted it to be. Then, due to the extreme negative response from the church about the sexuality of the sculpture, he created the second one in a way that you couldn’t argue that the relationship shown was one with God. Overall, I found the first sculpture much more pleasing because it looked much more honest, not created to be pleasing to the church like the second.
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