Annotation 3

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini 1647–1652

In her study, Assaf highlights how early modern depictions of touch navigate the temptation of the "most sensual sense" while also offering hints at "how to counter its sway" through virtue and restraint. In The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, the angel’s gentle yet poised hand holding an arrow near Teresa’s heart creates an ambiguous image of touch, one that suggests both pleasure and divine transcendence. Teresa’s expression, which blends pain and ecstasy, illustrates this ambivalence: she experiences a rapturous sensation that is both physical and spiritual. Assaf’s insights are evident here, as touch becomes a "balance between pleasure and toil"—the angel’s arrow represents divine love that simultaneously brings Teresa closer to God while involving physical sacrifice​

Assaf & The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Bolland’s discussion of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne highlights how Bernini uses vision and touch to convey paradoxical relationships between desire and transformation. Bolland notes that Apollo’s sight "kindles in [him] a desire that it alone ultimately cannot satisfy," while touch reveals a transformed reality, marking the moment of frustrated possession. Similarly, in The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Bernini uses Teresa’s closed eyes and the angel’s touch to convey a paradox between vision and sensation: while viewers witness Teresa in a state of divine ecstasy, the experience is beyond what they can fully grasp. As Bolland observes, Bernini’s work engages viewers in "the translation of sight’s desires into art," making the sculpture not only a portrayal of Teresa’s mystical experience but a testament to art’s ability to express sensations through nothing but visual stimulus.

Bolland & The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Similar to how Puglisi argues that Caravaggio creates audio in his work by depicting musicians, singers, and open-mouthed figures, so too does Bernini create sound by having Saint Teresa's mouth wide open. Furthermore, Bernini positions Saint Teresa to be gripping the rock she is on as well as throwing her head back. All of this is reminiscent of how Caravaggio had his characters at the apex of their movement in order to elicit as much sound from them as possible. Take for example Caravaggio's painting of Medusa. In the painting we imagine Medusa opening and closing her mouth to scream, Caravaggio paints Medusa when her mouth is as wide as it can be in order to capture her scream. We see this same tecnique being used by Puglisi when he paints Saint Teresa to be at the apex of her ecstasy.

Subject & Puglisi's Talking Pictures

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is in reference to Saint Teresa of Avila who was one of the most famous Ascetic writers at the time. Asceticism is the denial of physical desires in order to attain a spiritual goal. With that in mind, I'd like to draw your attention to the way this sculpture sees touch as both a divine but also pleasurable experience. Touch is both base and sacred. Both worth desire but also requiring restraint. The context of the work being about asceticism and yet praising the pleasure of touch through the ecstacy on Saint Teresa's face shows the paradoxical nature of how touch was viewed by Renaissance artists according to Bolland in his piece. In the way Saint Teresa is barely being touched we can see how the internal conflict that emerges from a paradoxical perception of touch as both sinful and moral.

Context & Bolland

Assaf claims that touch can be perceived not just as a lustful sense but also a deeply spiritual one when it's properly conveyed. For example, when someone is weaving as opposed to someone lustfully touching another body. Bernini uses the hand in this sculpture to effectively capture what Assaf would call a spiritual portrayal of touch in art. He does this by making the hand pull away from Saint Teresa at the last moment in order to send a message of restraint, similarly to how Assaf says prints were meant to educate the urban elite in practicing physical restriant. Furthermore, the whiteness of the material used in the sculpture reinforces the ideas of purity. Also, the golden strips in the back shine down to simulate heaven's light which also reinforces the theme of pious restraint by reminding the viewer of the church. Finally, I also believe the use of a sculpture best illustrates Bernini's goal of teaching restraint by providing something so lifelike and then showing how to resist it. As if he is habituating the viewer's brain into practicing restraint even when faced with something physically erotic.

Style & Assaf