SouthernCounter-Reformation

BaroqueSculpture &Architecture

David• Bernini was a sculptor, painter, architect, playwright, and stage designer. He was a favorite of Pope Urban VIII.• As a sculptor, Bernini was renowned for creating expressively theatrical works that had a realistic softness and flexibility to their poses. Combines motion & emotion. • How is this work different from the Davids of Verrocchio, Donatello, and Michelangelo?• What sculpture by Myron does it remind you of?• This is different from Myron’s sculpture in that he is in the middle of the pivoting movement, instead of about to begin it.• Bernini used a bag full of stones behind David to support the statue and imply that David thought the battle might be long and difficult. • The sculpture seems to be moving through time and space.• The dynamic energy is not inscribed in a cylinder or containable in a niche; it demands space around it.• It is not self-contained like Renaissance sculpture. David’s attention moves out beyond himself to the unseen Goliath.

David Gianlorenzo Bernini1623. Marble, 5’ 7”.

Fountain of the Four Rivers• Commissioned by Pope Innocent X for the piazza in front of his family’s (Pamphili) home and church parish. • Innocent did not want Bernini to have the commission, as he was the favorite sculptor of the previous pope (Urban VIII), who spent too lavishly on art. However, when he saw Bernini’s design, he had no choice but to award him the commission. • The fountain, made of travertine, depicts an obelisk (moved to the piazza from the circus of the Roman emperor Maxentius) in the center of figures representing the four rivers of the world:-Nile (Africa) covers his face, as the origins of it were unknown at the time-Plata (Americas) shown with gold coins, representing wealth of the new continent-Ganges (Asia) was easily navigable, and holds an oar-Danube (Europe) reaches awestruck towards the papal coat of arms. • At the top of the obelisk is the Pamphili dove, which also symbolizes the Holy Spirit and triumph of Christianity worldwide

Fountain of the Four RiversBernini. Piazza Navona, Rome. c. 1650. Travertine.

Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Cornaro Chapel• St. Theresa of Avila (1515 – 1582) was a Carmelite nun whose writings were influential in the Counter-Reformation. • Around 1560, she experienced a series of ecstatic visions. During one of these episodes, she saw an angel with a fiery-tipped spear, which he plunged repeatedly into her body, which she described as “leaving her on fire with a great love of God,” a great yet pleasurable pain. • This sculpture was commissioned by Cardinal Federico Cornaro for his family’s chapel. Sculpted members of the family watch the drama unfold from box seats on either side.• The design of the chapel reflects Bernini’s experience as a stage designer, with a shallow stage holding the main sculpture, topped by a Baroque broken pediment, and lit from above by a hidden window with yellow glass. The light flowed down the bronze strips like rays of divine light. • Above, a fresco depicts cherubs circling around the holy dove. • How is this chapel the quintessential Italian Baroque work of art?

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa,Cornaro Chapel

Gianlorenzo Bernini, c. 1650.Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome.

Sculpture: Marble, 11’ 6” tall.

Façade of Il Gesὺ• In 1540, Pope Paul III formally recognized the Jesuits, founded by Spanish nobleman Ignatius of Loyola, as a religious order. The Jesuits opened numerous Catholic schools, spread the Catholic message to other continents, and were allies of the Pope during the Counter Reformation. • Il Gesὺ, or (“Church of Jesus”), was built as a main church for the Jesuit order, by Giacomo della Porta (who also did the dome for St. Peter’s). • Expanded upon the designs of Alberti on the church of Santa Maria Novella and Sant’Andrea in the 1470s.• The paired pilasters recall Michelangelo’s designs for St. Peter’s. • Although technically constructed during the Late Renaissance, this building foretells the development of Italian Baroque church architecture. • Interior is dominated by a large nave, with side chapels instead of side aisles. This allowed for a greater central space for processions and large audiences for the Jesuit priests.

Il Gesὺ, designed by Giacomo della Porta. Rome, Italy, c. 1580.

Santa MariaNovella

Sant’Andrea

Santa Susanna• Santa Susanna, designed by Carlo Maderno, is one of the earliest examples of true Baroque architecture. • Although it is based on Il Gesὺ, it has greater verticality which emphasizes its features. • In what ways is Santa Susanna similar to or different from Il Gesὺ?• In what ways is Santa Susanna “sculptural”?

Santa Susanna (looking north)Carlo Maderno. Rome, Italy, c. 1600.

Façade of St. Peter’s• Church officials decided the central plan of Bramante and Michelangelo was too closely associated with ancient temples like the Pantheon, so they had him add a stretched out nave. • This ruined the effect of Michelangelo’s plan for a church dominated by its large dome, as it could hardly be seen. • The nave reinforced the symbolic distinction between clergy and laity, and also was better suited for religious processions.

East Façade of St. Peter’sCarlo Maderno

Vatican City, Rome, Italy1606 - 1612

• Pope Paul V commissioned Maderno in 1606 to complete St. Peter’s in Rome, after Michelangelo died. • Because of the symbolic importance of St. Peter’s (as the seat of the papacy, and the church Constantine built over St. Peter’s tomb), the Counter Reformation popes were eager to complete the century-long rebuilding project. • The façade’s two outer bays with bell towers were not part of Maderno’s original design.

Colonnade for St. Peter’s• The original St. Peter’s had a large atrium (forecourt). To replicate the old atrium, the Church hired Bernini to construct a monumental colonnade-framed piazza. • Bernini intended the shape of the colonnades to resemble the “welcoming arms of the Church.”• Bernini was required to build around the pre-existing fountain by Maderno, and an Egyptian obelisk (originally brought to Rome by Emperor Caligula in 37 CE). • Four rows of travertine Tuscan columns make up the two colonnades, which terminate in classical temple fronts. • The colonnades served visually to counteract the natural perspective and make the façade seem closer to the viewer. This emphasized the façade’s height, and compensated for its width. • Between Bernini and Maderno, the central design of the Renaissance was transformed into an axial plan structure which enclosed vast spaces, creating an awe-inspiring and authoritative vision of the Church.

Colonnade around piazza of St. Peter’s

Bernini. 1656 – 1667. Travertine.Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Baldacchino• Bernini also did work inside St. Peter’s. He was commissioned to construct a gigantic bronze baldacchino under della Porta’s dome, and over the high altar and St. Peter’s tomb. • A baldacchino (or baldachin in English), derived from the word baldacco meaning “silk from Baghdad,” such as for a cloth canopy, is a canopy-like covering over an altar or throne. • The altar visually bridges the gap between human scale and the vast vaults and dome above. It also serves to create a frame around the throne of Peter at the far end of the church. • Partially fluted and wreathed with vines, the spiral columns are Baroque versions of the columns of the ancient baldacchino over the same spot in Old St. Peter’s, invoking the past to reinforce the primacy of the Church. The vines of the Eucharist intertwine with the twisted columns of the Temple of Solomon, uniting Christianity and its Jewish tradition. • Four angels stand guard on top of the columns.• Curved brackets support a cross-topped orb, a symbol of Christ’s triumph. • The structure is decorated with bees and laurel leaves, symbols of Urban VIII’s family (the Barberini). • Structure is made primarily from cast bronze, obtained by dismantling and melting down the portico of the Pantheon.

BaldacchinoGianlorenzo BerniniSaint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1624 – 1633.Bronze, brass, and wood. Approximately 100’ tall.

Cathedra Petri• Bernini designed a shrine of gilded stone, bronze, and stucco for the ancient wooden throne thought to have belonged to St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome (reliquary). • The Chair of Peter symbolized the direct descent of Christian authority from Peter to the current pope, a belief rejected by Protestants and therefore deliberately emphasized in the Counter-Reformation. • Above the shrine was a stained glass window depicting the dove, symbolic of the Holy Spirit. • Surrounding the window are adoring angels and gilt bronze rays of light, extending the light (both real and metaphorical for the Holy Spirit) into the church. • Multimedia (art made from different types of materials) works such as this one are characteristic of the Baroque era.

Cathedra PetriBernini

Scala Regia• The Baroque interest in illusionistic devices is expressed again in the Vatican in the Scala Regia (Royal Stairway), the monumental corridor of steps connecting the papal apartments and the portico and narthex of the church. • The original corridor was dark, irregular, and somewhat dangerous to descend, so Pope Alexander VII commissioned Bernini to redesign it. • Bernini put his stage design skills to use to create a stairway that appears longer than it is. • The stairway, crowned by a group of trumpeting angels and the papal arms, is covered by a barrel vault in two sections, carried on columns that form aisles flanking the central corridor.• By gradually reducing the distance between the columns and the walls as the stairway ascends (goes up), the side aisles gradually but completely disappear, creating the illusion of uniformity of width and continuity of the aisle for the whole stairway. • The distance between the left and right colonnades also narrows with ascent, reinforcing the natural perspective and making the stairs appear to be longer than they are. • Bernini made the lighting at the top brighter, utilizing the human inclination to move towards light. He also added an illuminated landing halfway through, to give rest during the long climb.

Scala RegiaBernini.

Vatican City, Rome.c. 1665.

San Carlo• Although Borromini’s fellow Baroque architects incorporated sculptural elements into their designs, their façades were still developed along straight, lateral planes. • Borromini instead created a dynamic, sculptural façade by making the cornices of each level curve in and out. • This created the illusion of a pulsing surface which acted as a fluid transition between interior and exterior space, instead of a flat separation. • The building also is incorporated into its environment through the use of, not one, but two façades. The second, a narrow bay crowned with its own small tower, turns away from the main façade and, following the curve of the street, faces an intersection, which originally housed four fountains (one on each corner, hence the name Quattro Fontane). • The interior of this small church is an unusual take on a central plan church, based on an oval (a more dynamic version of a static circle) to fit the space. • The interior walls echo and reverse the motion of the façade. • The interior is capped by a deeply coffered (in various geometric shapes, such as ovals, crosses, and hexagons) dome, which seems to float on light from windows hidden in its base.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane.Borromini. Rome, Italy. 1640.

Saint Ivo• The lower stories of the court were already done when Borromini took over construction of Saint Ivo. • In the upper section, Borromini again played with the undulation of concave against convex forms, capped with a screw-like spiral. • Clusters of pilasters appear to reinforce the bulges of the walls.• The centralized plan of Saint Ivo chapel is that of a star with rounded points and apses on all sides. • The wall panels rise in a continuously tapering sweep stopped only briefly by a single horizontal cornice. Thus, the dome is not a separate unit placed on a supporting block, as in Renaissance buildings, but an organic part that evolves out of and shares the qualities of the supporting walls.

Saint Ivo. Borromini.

College of the Sapienza

(Wisdom),Rome, Italy, c.

1640.