Last 26th November, the newly restored “Transverberation of Saint Teresa”, one of the undisputed masterpieces of Baroque Rome by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, was revealed to the public. A proper visual perception of the artwork has been now deservedly returned to pilgrims and art enthusiasts who have been always attracted by this desired destination, enshrined in the golden splendor of the chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini and pope Innocenzo X
Deemed as a wealthy and cherished artist, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was deeply linked to the political power and the papal court, especially during the pontificate of Urbano VIII Barberini who came from Florence like the artist’s father. Most of the popes took a linking to Gian Lorenzo Bernini but for his successor Innocenzo X, born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj.
Since his election in 1644, pope Innocenzo X didn’t show the same personal interest towards the arts and literature harbored by pope Urbano VIII and the future pope Alessandro VII. [1] Nevertheless, Innocenzo X fostered important interventions in religious architecture in preparation for the Holy Year of 1650, besides patronizing some civil buildings as the progression of the Palazzo Nuovo in Campidoglio, the Carceri Nuove in via Giulia and the arrangement of piazza Navona. [1] This pope particularly preferred the classicist inclination representing the “other side of the coin” in the 17th century architecture, beyond Baroque achievements. In this way, pope Pamphilj contributed to Bernini’s unsuccessful period for official patronage, except for the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. Notwithstanding the lack of public commissions, Bernini however continued to be active for private patrons as patrician families, who ordered works for their art collections or church properties, like the Cornaro chapel.
The miraculous transverberation of Saint Teresa
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada (Gotarrendura 1515 – Alba de Tormes 1582), was a mystic, Carmelite nun and theologian during the Counter Reformation in Spain. In 1622 pope Gregorio XV Ludovisi canonized her and on 27 September 1970 she was ordered a Doctor of the Church by pope Paul VI Montini.
Starting from 1559, Teresa became firmly convinced of witnessing the presence of Jesus Christ in several visions, which lasted for more than two years. In one of these visions, a seraph (later identified with a cherub) repeatedly drove a long flaming spear through her heart, causing a deep spiritual as well as physical pain. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was inspired by this mystic vision from the saint’s life to create a complex scenic setup in the chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome:
I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the 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... [2]
A polymateric masterpiece in the Cornaro chapel
The Cornaro chapel fills the whole left transept arm of the chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria. The cardinal Federico Cornaro, patriarch of Venice yet resident in Rome since 1644, obtained the concession of the chapel on the 22th January 1647 and the works were accomplished by summer 1652 also thanks to intervention of Bernini’s assistants. [4]
Based on a Travertine pedestal, the central group of the “Transverberation of Saint Teresa” was modeled from a sole block of particularly shiny Carrara marble, which seems to become transparent in the areas where the sculptor made the material as thin as possible, in order to render the natural clothing. In particular, the statue of Saint Teresa lacks of any stiffness and seems to defy the art of painting at best representing the motion. The human body is hidden under the ruffled dress, irrationally disheveled by the wind. The saint is portrayed as apparently suspended in the air surrounded by blankets of clouds, gently lifted up by the angel who is about to pierce her with a bright arrow, while tugging at her caple. She shows an estatic pose, laying her body on the soft clouds in a so intense whirlwind that reminds of a sensual bliss and makes the viewers forget about the spiritual cause of this fascinating rapture.
In a suggestive illusion, the evanescent clouds melt with the pedestal, the niche background and the sculptural group, expanding themselves on both sides and contributing to the creation of a scenographic unity of the composition. Their presence is functional to realistically render the rising of the saint’s body and to let the sculptural group appear made of light substance.
The altar frontal, sculpted in gilded bronze on a background made of lapis lazuli, represents the “Last Supper”, [5] and recalls the concept of the Eucharist symbology that informs the entire chapel decoration. [6] This relief is in fact part of the iconographic program of the chapel, explicated in an upward motion starting from the depiction of the skeletons on the floor made of inlaid marbles. The above figure of Christ in the “Last Supper” altar scene is linked to God the Father represented by the gilded beams descending on the central group of the “Transverberation of Saint Teresa” that is the peak of the mystical experience. The presence of the Holy Dove in the frescoes painted by Guidobaldo Abbatini on the chapel ceiling is the ultimate religious reference to the Holy Spirit. [7]
The entire design of the chapel was elaborated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in an ingenious and vibrant effect, enriched by the colored marbles and a dynamic use of the lines in an open space. In particular, the structure of the architectural grid is rendered through the diverse polychromy of the materials and frames the “Transverberation of Saint Teresa” as a “tableau vivant” in a mistilinear aedicule of classical reminiscence. [8] Bernini succeeded in creating a well-balanced “meta-architecture”: the little temple is bridled in the architectural grid, in a perfect merging which is a sign of Bernini’s enduring pursuit of the “bel composto” in his artistic research.
The warm chromatic tone of the marbles is another peculiar aspect of the chapel decoration, which also testifies to the fundamental pictorial aspect of many artworks by Bernini. [9] As other church interiors dating to the 17th century, like the cappella di Sant’Agostino or the main altar area at Santa Maria in Via Lata, the Cornaro chapel is characterized by the use of precious materials with breccias, brightened in particular by warm color palettes as red and yellow. Here Bernini however led the pictorial use of the polychrome marbles to an unparalled rendering. [7]
The particular characterization of the miracle, represented with theatrical and emphatic taste, is obtained through the use of optical and perspective darings as well as lights games in an inventive way. The sculptural group is hit by a hidden light source that is not visible from the usual point of view. The decorated white and yellow glass window concealed behind the altar tympanum serves as a true spotlight of divine origin, falling from the top of the aedicule and giving also a realistic rendering to the beams in gilded bronze in the background. A transient element as the light is employed as any other medium in the artwork creation, in order to enhance the dramatic effect of the scene in the most suggestive way. [10]
Bernini placed the group of the “Transverberation of Saint Teresa” at the center of the chapel at about half meter from the base of the aedicule, in order to let the viewer to attend the mystic experience at a lower level. The orientation of the sculptural group is slightly turned right, also to emphasize the moment when the angel is about to hit the saint with the arrow, making it more visible. The viewer thus becomes an interactive participant, physically and psychically involved in the dramatic action happening inside the space of the artwork, transformed in a theatre. The mise-en-scene of the sculptural group is also highlighted by the presence of two illusionistic choirs reminding of theatrical boxes on both the sides of the altar or stage, holding the high reliefs portraying the middle-busts of the Cornaro family members who are attending the miracle. [7]
The new restoration works
On the 26th of November, the restored Cornaro chapel was revealed to the public and given back to the Order of the Carmelite friars. The important restoration works were carried out during the “Anno Teresiano” (Teresa’s year), marking the 500th year after the birth of the Saint Teresa d’Avila happened on the 28th March 1515.
The last restoration dated 19 years ago and in the meanwhile the visual fruition of the sculptures was strongly penalized, because of the dirty and retouching layers later accumulated on the surfaces. The exposition to the pollutants and water infiltrations and the continuous influx of visitors also contributed to the chapel degradation.
The new intervention led by the director Lia Di Giacomo mainly consisted in a preliminary and accurate campaign of investigations, documented by photographs and focused on diagnostic exams, in order to collect information about the conservative state of the chapel. After an intermediate phase of tests for products and procedures, the actual operation of consolidation and cleaning was fulfilled by restorers Giuseppe Mantella and Sante Guido, with Ilaria Maretta, Laura Liquori, Alice Bellano and Elisabetta De Narda.
On both sidewalls, the choirs accommodating the Cornaro family members, as well as the festoons and puttos have been cleaned. A meticulous operation of sealing has been executed for the upper window of the central aedicule, because rainwater and pollutants dusts usually entered the chapel from there. Moreover, the colored painting and stucco retouchings, which were later added altering the perception of the “Transverberation of Saint Teresa”, have been removed from the base of the sculptural group. The original modeling of Bernini’s clouds has been recovered and the chromatic effect of the ensemble has been balanced. More details on the last restoration works are available on the Soprintendenza SPSAE e Polo Museale della Città di Roma website.
A proper visual perception of the artwork has been thus deservedly returned to pilgrims and art enthusiasts who have been always attracted by this desired destination, enshrined in the golden splendor of the chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria.
References
[1] D. Del Pesco, "Roma e lo Stato della Chiesa," in L'architettura del Seicento. Torino: UTET, 1998, pp. 3-107.
[2] St. Teresa, The life of Saint Teresa, written by herself, and tr. by J. Dalton. London: C. Dolman, 1851.
[3] Leopoldo Cicognara, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Jean Baptiste d'Agincourt, Storia della scultura dal suo risorgimento in Italia: sino al secolo di Napoleone. Venezia: Picotti, 1818, vol. III.
[4] Pietro Cannata, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Regista del Barocco, catalogo della mostra. Roma, 1999.
[5] Valentino Martinelli, L'ultimo Bernini (1665-1680): nuvoi argomenti, documenti e immagini. Roma: Quasar, 1996.
[6] Alberto Di Castro, Paola Peccolo, and Valentina Gazzaniga, Marmorari e argentieri a Roma e nel Lazio tra Cinquecento e Seicento: i committenti, i documenti, le opere. Roma: Quasar, 1994.
[7] Rudolf Wittkower, Arte e architettura in Italia. 1600-1750. Torino: Einaudi, 1993 (1958).
[8] Paolo Portoghesi, Architettura e Memoria: Teoria, progettazione, dibattito sulla città, arti visive, Francesca Gottardo, Ed. Roma: Gangemi Editore, 2012.
[9] Valentino Martinelli, Gian Lorenzo Bernini e la sua cerchia: studi e contributi (1950-1990). Roma: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1994.
[10] Gerhard Wiedmann, Roma Barocca. Milano: Jaca Book, 2002.
[11] Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Vedute di Roma disegnate ed incise da Giambattista Piranesi Architetto Veneziano. Roma: Presso l' Autore a Strada Felice nel Palazzo Tomati vicino alla Trinità de' monti, 1839.
