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Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni |
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by zinnia / 10.24.2005 |
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| The Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertoni |
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Assignment |
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As I walked towards Bernini’s Ecstasy of Beata Albertoni, the first thing I noticed was the garment that the woman was wearing. To show her ecstasy, Beata was clothed in clothing that twists and wraps around her. Such an emphasis appeared out of place and rigid for a motionless sculpture. Above all I took note of the scarf that Beata wears around her head. As her head rests sideways on the cloth, the extra portion that came out underneath slightly turns up – as if gravity is but a make believe – and veils part of her face. Continuing down the sculpture to Beata’s hands and then knees, I find oddity in her clothing once more. Rather than draping over her body the garment flows like a separate entity. And lastly, as I trace over the statue for the second time, I finally noticed the hand that covers her breast.
Personally I see Bernini’s sculpture as someone in agony, giving birth possibly. The Virgin Mary is the foremost female figure that I associate with Christianity; more specifically, of her and baby Jesus. This mental image is more than ever substantiated during the course of this class. Either a sculpture or a painting, each and every church that I’ve been to houses a depiction of Madonna and child. It is a standard Christian symbol. Consequently, upon seeing the sculpture of Beata I instinctively linked her to Mary. Childbirth came to mind as an attempt to complete the image with baby Jesus. It was explained to me later on that Bernini intended to portray the ecstasy that one feels when close to god. However, his depiction of this ecstasy has always been a controversial topic for debate because of its orgasmic appearance. I didn’t see that at all prior to the explanation. In fact, it is still not the dominant imagery I have for the sculpture. But in Bernini’s defense, he sculpted the way he did due to lack of better study material. I mean, how many different ecstasies are there, and how different is each from the other?
In contrast to the ambiguity of Beata Albertoni’s ecstasy, the inappropriateness that the church observed in Ecstasy of Saint Theresa is evident. The Seraph angel holding an arrow reminded me of Cupid with his love arrows, and that thought led me to see the sculpture with sexual connotations. The sexual message is unmistakably clear with Bernini’s addition of the angel figure to the overall sculpture. Tracing along the angel’s left arm, it can be seen that his outstretched hand is in proximity with Saint Theresa’s breast, with his fingers slightly curved in an almost cupping position. Although the cupping of the breast is shown in both Ecstasies, the one in Saint Theresa seems more apparent. Even though the gesture is more a subtle implication than something actually taking place, the inconclusiveness leaves space for imagination. In Ecstasy of Beata Albertoni the cupping is noticed from thorough observation, the viewer’s mental journey ends when the action is sighted, and no further attention is given to contemplate its meaning. The sexual explicitness of Saint Theresa’s ecstasy was ultimately exposed by the excerpts detailing her life; translated into several languages, the laminated documents sat directly beneath the sculpture. There is no mistake that the intercourse between St. Theresa and God was a sexual one, her own words “from the time I began to have these raptures, I have not felt this pain so much as that other of which I spoke before” most definitely metaphors to her first encounter of sex to later on stages.
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