A Woman’s Legacy Built by Men
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa: A Woman’s Legacy Built by Men
“I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it.” -Teresa of Avila
Lauren Newton
ARTH 102: Survey of Western Art
April 5, 2021
On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this paper. Lauren Newton
When Cardinal Federico Cornaro commissioned Gianlorenzo Bernini to sculpt The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in January of 1647, the Roman Catholic Church had been facing the rise of Protestantism and battling criticism following Martin Luther’s purification effort. Despite the fact that her writings were somewhat controversial, Saint Teresa was deemed the perfect subject for propaganda in the church’s battle against the reformers. Because Saint Teresa became canonized as a saint in 1622, not even 30 years prior, Bernini was largely responsible for shaping her legacy. Additionally, because Bernini chose one of the most memorable and emotional scenes from Saint Teresa’s writings, those familiar with the sculpture no doubt conflate the statue with Teresa herself. Although reactions to the sculpture were positive when it was revealed, criticism proliferated as the Baroque period concluded, and many viewed the statue as indecorous and highly erotic1. Because of The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa’s extravagance in appearance and ambiguous implications, Saint Teresa’s true messages are often overlooked, and her legacy is overshadowed by Bernini’s artistic bias. Countless critics and viewers have formulated vastly different opinions on its significance because, since the statue was unveiled in summer of 1652, each generation of viewer’s interpretations have been shaped by their own preconceptions and biases, including gender and cultural context.
The illustrious sculpture is situated in the heart of the Roman Catholic Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Though the church’s exterior is modest and even plain in design, this simplicity is juxtaposed by the sumptuous display inside . An exuberate combination of architecture, sculpture, and paintings, the interior of the chapel reflects a bell composto of sublime beauty, and The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is situated as the centerpiece commissioned Bernini in January 1647, and after five years of work, the statue was revealed, and Cornaro and the church alike boasted of its widespread acclaim.
Facing the growing Protestant movement and the purification effort spurred by Martin Luther’s “Ninety-five Theses” of 1517, the Roman Catholic Church was looking to counteract the allegations of Catholic corruption and garner support for the Catholic faith. The desire to reevaluate liturgical practices and standardize Roman Catholic doctrines lead to the Council of Trent, the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church held between 1545 and 1563. The council also re-evaluated the church’s policies on artwork, including appropriate subject matter and style, because the idolatry and ornateness of Catholic artwork was condemned by many Reformers.
Given the Roman Catholic Church’s desire to “re-indoctrinate” the masses in its fight against Protestantism and the recent artistic scrutiny, Cardinal Federico Cornaro searched for a commission subject that would inspire piety. He believed Saint Teresa’s story would serve as useful propaganda and that her exemplary life story would inspire devoutness among Catholics. Because Saint Teresa had so recently lived, died, and been canonized, her story could be viewed as proof of God’s continual approval of the Roman Catholic Church; the tradition of canonizing people whose lives were marked by miraculous occurrences demonstrates God’s “election”6. Additionally, her writings were well-known and popular, leading her to have followers in many parts of the world. Not only did her life prove the continuing miracles of God, but also, it posed a unique potential threat to the church, so Cornaro was especially motivated to control her narrative. Because her writings were unconventional, the church believed that, if read incorrectly, they could contradict the very principles of the Counter-Reformation.
Although Teresa of Avila eventually became a saint, her life and writings were not always admired. In fact, Teresa lived a somewhat controversial life: she was even summoned by the Inquisition in 1576 for possible heresy9. A Spanish noblewoman born in 1515, Teresa’s status as a mystic, a woman, and a possible conversa -- a Jew that converted to Roman Catholicism -- deemed her problematic in the eyes of many Spaniards. Mystics were accused of promoting anti-Catholic sentiments because their belief that one can interact directly with God contradicted the Church’s emphasis on the role of clergy. In one of Saint Teresa’s most famous writings -- the scene Bernini depicted -- she describes interacting directly and physically with God through the means of an angel10. This scenario is emblematic of why the church considered her writings to be dangerous; Teresa was even chastised by the guardians of the patriarchy* for insisting her visions were genuine encounters with God, not illusions or exaggerations.
Despite the fact that her writings were controversial, Bernini depicted her message carefully, framing and morphing it to conform to the church’s agenda. If correctly executed, the mystics’ emphasis on ecstasies would correlate perfectly with the Counter-Reformation’s desire to use emotion and fervor to inspire faith. Bernini hoped to use Saint Teresa’s message to capture the religious zeal that the church strived for while simultaneously rendering an uncontroversial and unthreatening figure. However, because Bernini was the first artist depicting Teresa’s legacy to this magnitude, he was also tasked with accurately epitomizing her legacy.
Many critics of The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa argued that Bernini’s work is a too “literal” depiction of Teresa’s passage13. Because of the exuberance of the statue, this rendition arouses a viewer's tendency to understand Teresa through the eyes of Bernini instead of through her own writings. Especially as centuries have passed, viewers have a propensity to conflate the statue with Saint Teresa herself, which is problematic because Bernini’s rendition was heavily influenced by his own biases, whether or not it was intentional. Initial discussion of the statue in conjunction with her actual writings ignored the disparities between the two, setting an inaccurate framework for future interpretations.
One artistic inaccuracy stemmed from Bernini’s desire to ground Teresa’s writings in the corporeal and earthly rather than the spiritual. However, this attachment to corporeality contradicts Teresa’s lifelong dissatisfaction with materiality. As reflected in her writings, Teresa longed for her soul to escape to a more spiritual, heavenly realm. Additionally, she denies experiencing any physical pain, thus highlighting the importance of spirit over body. This paradoxical pull of heaven vs earth inspired Bernini’s statue. However, instead of reflecting that Teresa constantly battled the prison of her own body, Bernini manipulated her ambiguity to create the illusion of control and exuberance that the church desired. The excessive materiality of her massive clothing and the rocky, solid appearance of the cloud weighs Saint Teresa down, keeping her anchored to earth and the body. In other words, she appears to be rising toward the heavens, but the magnitude of the cloud and her clothes simultaneously drags her down to earth. Although these details helped satisfy the Counter-Reformation agenda, they threaten the mystical ideals by contradicting the notion of connecting directly with the divine.
Although the statue received massive Roman acclaim upon its unveiling, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa has become one of the most controversial and discussed artworks of its century because of its erotic undertones. Many critics argue it is a sacrilegious depiction of Teresa’s visions because they believe she is depicted mid orgasm. However, because the many of the erotic implications of an ecstasy didn’t emerge until years later, Bernini saw no moral issue in his subject matter and the Roman public opinion was very positive.
Regardless of Bernini’s intention, art historians have found what they believe to be direct evidence of sexual undertones in the details of the sculpture. Saint Teresa of Avila assumes the position of a reclining nude, a posture that historically implies sexual submissiveness and passivity17. Her eyelids are relaxed, her eyes roll to the back of her head, her nostrils are flared, her mouth gapes, and her arm hangs limply at her side; all movements are spastic and characteristic of the female orgasm18. Many critics, such as Jaques Lacan, judged the expression perhaps too quickly by asserting she’s orgasming with minimal evidence. However, scholars and doctors studying orgasmology agree that the sexual undertones are glaring. French Neurologist Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne, for example, studied facial expressions during the female orgasm using electrotherapy, and found evidence of specific muscles that indicate orgasm. He argued that Bernini, among other artists, fails to distinguish between the “ecstatic expression of celestial love and that of terrestrial love,” and that many saints and virgins, “whose features should always exude innocence and purity, too often have the expression of sensual pleasure.”
In The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Teresa’s posture and facial expressions are not the only erotic cues. Although her extravagant clothes prove Bernini’s understanding for Teresa’s work -- the clothing shows a backward movement, revealing she had already been plunged in the heart in the ecstatic pain of transverberation -- they also reveal lascivious undertones20. The thick folds of cloth look like endless vaginal orifices, and this display reflects a level of vulnerability and accessibility. Additionally, the angel depicted reveals the same action potential because his drapery flows in a backward movement. However, his mischievous and knowing grin implies a level of seduction -- although he respects Teresa as a saint, the angel nonetheless enjoys being the “master of her desire”. Furthermore, the angel plays a crucial role in the interpretation of the statue because he is the purveyor of the gaze -- in other words, viewers should use how the angel views Teresa as a framework for their own viewing. So, since the angel appears to be viewing Teresa in a sexual light, viewers are inclined to do so as well.
Most art historians have acknowledged the statue’s erotic ambiguity throughout the centuries, however many debate the extent of the ambiguity’s affect on the statue’s artistic excellence and value. Because opinions are shaped by personal biases, many critics’ responses to the statue are characteristic of the cultural contexts in which they were given. For example, much of the criticism for The Statue of Saint Teresa emerged in the late 18th century as the Baroque period concluded and the Neoclassical era began. As this very traditional and classical style took center stage, the entire Baroque period was vilified as an “aesthetic aberration”. Categorizing the Baroque era as excessive and corrupt, many Neoclassicists believed Bernini’s excessive artistic mastery overpowered, and even negated, the statue’s sacred value. In 1855, for example, influential Swiss art historian Jacob Burckhardt published his opinions on the statue, stating “Here we clearly forget all simple questions of style, owing to the outrageous degradation of the supernatural”.
Perhaps the most well known response to The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is that of Jacques Lacan. Forty years after visiting Santa Maria della Vittoria for the first time in 1934, Lacan publicly revealed his opinion on the piece. In a seminar riddled with dissatisfaction and sexist ideals, Lacan’s most famous quote reads “You need but go to Rome and see the statue by Bernini to immediately understand that she's coming. There's no doubt about it. What is she getting off on?”. Lacan argued that Teresa’s emphasis of the spiritual and degradation of the physical actually increases the emphasis on the orgasm. He discussed what he calls the “phallic function,” which argues that, in a discourse between two individuals, one must assume either the masculine or feminine position. One must have the phallus -- the abstract symbol of power -- and the other must be the phallus. Because he believed most men were “situated on the side of the phallic function,” Lacan associated men with spiritual love and women with physical love, praising the former and degrading the latter. He essentially argued that because Teresa is experiencing “jouissance” -- a French word roughly translating to ‘ecstacy,’ ‘pleasure,’ or ‘orgasm’ -- and there is not a phallic presence, she is not “getting off” on God, and that because she’s a woman, she can’t truly feel ecstasy and pleasure like a man. Although Lacan’s seminar was shaped by his personal bias as a man in the 20th century, Christian cultures actually adhere to the principles behind the “phallic function,” proving that cultural and religious biases heavily influence interpretations of the statue.
Lacan’s response to The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa has been criticized heavily for its masculine bias and “phallocentricity”27. Luce Irigaray, a Belgian-born feminist, psychoanalyst and cultural theorist, argued that Lacan completely disregarded the crucial fact that the statue was sculpted by a man. Because this statue emblematizes a woman but was also created through the lens of a man, Irigaray argues that Lacan’s criticism of Saint Teresa’s ecstasies were premature: one cannot judge her message accurately if he is merely conflating them with a biased rendition of her writings. Additionally, she argues that both Lacan and Bernini were deployers of the “phallic gaze,” meaning they look at women as objects or bodies to possess. Because of the phallic gaze, Bernini approached the sculpture with an inevitable male bias; Lacan did the same.
Since The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa was unveiled nearly four centuries ago, a myriad of viewers representing a myriad of cultures and identities have stood before and formed opinions on the sumptuous sculpture. Whether they defend the initial positive response to the work or join the many critics in anger against the ‘sacrilegious depiction’ depends on their personal and cultural biases. And, because Teresa’s message is viewed through the eyes of Bernini, critics must consider the statue as a mere rendition, not a perfect representation. Art historians may never agree on the impact and intention of Bernini’s renowned work, but the statue has unquestionably perpetuated the legacy of Saint Teresa of Avila and will continue to rouse discussion for centuries to come.
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