The Messages of the Sculptures of The Masterful Bernini and Futurism

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The Messages of the Sculptures of the Masterful Bernini In Relation To Italian Futurism

Ryan Evans

Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpted some of the best of the baroque statues. This paper will focus on some of Bernini’s most famous works of sculpture to consider how each masterpiece used the common baroque characteristics such as naturalism, motion, and light to promote the message of the counterreformation of the Catholic Church. Bernini’s art made a bold statement about the greatness and grandeur of the church and it displayed it in a way that broke from past artistic conventions. The sculptures that I will explore are the following: David, the Tomb of Alexander VII, and The Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila. I will explore what attributes of these specific artworks made them baroque and what overall message the artwork is trying to express. The main attributes in particular include motion, naturalism, and a humor about death. I will consider how they relate to the Catholic Church and if it supports the propaganda of the Counter Reformation.

David, constructed out of solid marble in 1623-1624 is the ideal example of a piece of baroque statute that captures motion as an instant in time. In order to understand Bernini’s David, it is necessary to look at the two other sculptures of David done before this particular piece. David has been created by Michelangelo and Donatello which were completely different. Donatello’s David is a bronze statue of a naked boy with a helmet standing on the head of Goliath jubilantly rejoicing in his victory. Donatello captured the youth and the accomplishment of David. There isn’t much motion in the static pose although there is a happy sense of accomplishment on his face. On the other hand, Michelangelo’s David is calm and reposed, showing the perfect human form as he reflects on his killing of Goliath. It is a perfect example of classical Renaissance artwork because it emulates the styles of repose and aesthetic beauty. Its static pose is similar in nature to Raphael’s paintings of Madonna and Child. Bernini’s David captures David in the moment before he hurled the stone. It shows him in motion with his muscles flexed in his fighting stance, his eyes focused and his brow furled. Unlike the natural relaxed stance of Michelangelo’s David, Bernini’s David depicts him crouching down in a fighting stance breaking out of the traditional frame, a calculated to lend a sense of realism. Bernini uses realism when he crafted the appearance of his David. Bernini’s David is different from the other two not only because of his motion but the emotion, setting, and part of the biblical story he is depicting. I will lightly touch on the other attributes but the most important aspect that truly made his statue Baroque was the depiction of motion. He even added human imperfections, such as armpit hair.

The dynamics of the statue’s motion brings the biblical story to life and actually glorifies the church by putting the viewer into the story. This glorifies the church by bringing traditional stories to life in new ways. It can be a religious experience for some people viewing this piece because it puts the viewer in the action of the story which making it more memorable. Bernini’s approach in showing movement shocks the viewer into a state of awe that really brings forth the story in a new way. The motion of the piece is frozen in time and all the movement and the emotion is captured. Bernini’s David is a prime example of movement in sculpture, but motion is not limited to only this piece. The majority of Bernini’s sculptors display some sort of motion.

The methods of showing movement that Bernini and other Baroque artists used is very similar to what later Italian artists used in the Futurist movement. One of these famous artists in the Futurist movement was Giacomo Balla. Balla, like Bernini, tried to capture movement but for different reasons and to present a very different message. Bernini used movement to present an allegory in a way that was full of life and naturalism. Balla, on the other hand, used movement to capture the essence of the power of machines and the industrialism of the new age of trains, airplanes, and automobiles. Contrary to Bernini, Balla rejected ties to classical and antiquity. Giacomo Balla’s piece, Espansione Dirnmica Velocita (Dynamic Expansion plus Speed) done in 1913, depicts multiple brown swirls which represent for me the abstract pictorial depiction of pure motion when on a train. (Hultan p.76) Motion is represented as an abstract depiction of the world whizzing by from the window of a fast moving train, an obvious celebration of technology and rejection of the conventional methods of art. This is similar to Bernini in the fact that he tries to capture motion as an instant in time but is also different in many ways.

As I have discussed previously, Bernini was interested in naturalism and realistic depictions of his subject, not at all abstract like Balla.This inquiry sets up the question of what aspects of history generated Baroque and Futurist representations of motion? The Futurists rejected history and embraced the development of technology and the future. It was a period of history with new technologies such as the airplane, the train, and the motorcar. The baroque also was a time of change. It was a time of radically new scientific discoveries in astronomy such as Johannes Kepler who discovered that planets traveled in an ellipse. Bernini even implemented the ellipse into some of his art including the colonnade in front of St. Peters.

Abstraction is one of the major characteristic of Futurist art. Another futurist artist, Umberto Boccioni created a very abstract sculptor called Unique Form of Continuity In Space  from 1913 that is abstract, a viewer senses movement but no human being. I believe that Boccioni wanted to move away from the classical method of realistically representing human in order to capture a sense of movement in abstract form. (Hulton p.132) The abstraction of Futurism promises a strong sense of subjectivity. My personal favorite piece of Balla’s is his painting from 1915 titled Forme Grido Viva L’Italia. This painting is an abstract representation of vibrant primary colors – dark, yet vibrant and deeply colorful. When I view it, I see myself looking out of the cockpit of a small airplane seeing a snow-capped Mount Rainer. At sunset it is cast in shadow and appears through the wispy white clouds that the Cessna is passing through with the red clouds on the horizon turning deep red- the color of love, lust, and affection. The green and blue swirls show how the motion of the airplane and its rapidly rotating propeller are in full motion and the aircraft and its occupants are hurtling forward at one hundred and twenty knots. This however, is not what Balla was trying to represent. Instead I think that Balla was using the vibrant bright colors to represent the use of technology for the common good of a nation, embracing them all and using the masses and marching on into the future.

Balla lived during the First World War, where death and destruction were common place. The artwork entitled Transformazime form of 1918 by Giacomo Balla is a great example of Futurismo artwork that employs the beauty and necessity of warfare. The warlike air raid art shows the deep majestic blue of the night lit up by man-made fire, search lights, deadly bombs, explosions, and bullet tracers, not only searching for death and victims but also searching for a way and struggle to hold on to life. The works of Bernini also had a tie to death in which he represented death with humor to show that with salvation, death was of little issue.

The Catholic beliefs that arose from the Counter Reformation and a new view on mortality; that if people followed Christ and the ways of the Catholic Church, they would conquer death and receive salvation. This view was carried into the artworks of Bernini, especially in his monument to Alexander VII. Constructed in 1671-1678 when Bernini was in his late seventies and early eighties, the monument depicts a skeleton holding a hour glass depicting mortality. Everyone is destined to die since we are all mortal.

Brunschini explains the role of the skeleton in the sculpture.

“Death also covers its head with the drapery-it does not see, or rather does not wish to see, the one to whom it bears its measure…when time has run out, it has run out for everyone, whatever their class wealth or power” (Bruschini p.157)

Bernini’s depiction of the skeleton in this sculpture supported the official view of the Catholic Church. The message is that death comes to everyone no matter what social class. By emphasizing that everyone will die, the salvation that the Catholic Church offers makes religion even more desirable. Even though this is apparent in the Catholic faith, it was important to visually demonstrate this to viewers. Perhaps this was why the Catholic Church commissioned this work to be in St Peter’s Basilica, the largest and most famous church of Catholicism. The drapery, which Bernini is known for, flows with no boundaries. His Artwork completely breaks out of the frame and has no sense of boundary.

One of the best examples of Bernini’s sculptures that breaks out of the frame, and according to the artist himself was his best work, was the Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila in the church of Santa Maria Della Vittoria. Bernini sculpted this piece as a direct response to the Counter Reformation and was a type a propaganda to this ideal. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avail it is detailed, emotional, and shows that salvation is earned through good works and faith. The message is that St. Teresa received spiritual enlightenment from the angel because of her long and hard life of pious works and suffering for Christ. When writing about the sculpture, T.A. Marder wrote the following:

“Her reclining position has special significance, referring at once to her spiritual transport and to her death” (Marder p.116). The meaning is very Catholic for it implies that the only way St. Teresa received her salvation was through the Catholic approach of combining works and faith.

Thanks to Bernini’s sculptures and the numerous decorations that he designed, the church of Santa Maria Della Victoria is extremely important to me both personally and spiritually. Its baroque design enveloped me with Christian symbolism through its multifaceted artwork. Although not overwhelmed, I was drawn into the art through the use of emotion, light, golden rods, and flowing draperies made of marble. In his book, Marder describes the statue in a way that highlights how it displays most prominent attributes of the Baroque art: the use of light, breaking out of the frame, and use of emotion.

“From this point of view… pliant exterior curves and a niche space for containing, lighting, and exhibiting the event, forms an empathetic participatory role in the presentation”(Marder p.116).

These attributes are seen through most of Bernini’s art work.

The intensity of the decoration is intended to bring peace through the contemplation of God. On the opposite end of the church, there is a statue that almost copies St. Teresa and the angel. It also uses identical golden rays of heaven and the light of god shinning down on them. The marble pillars and architecture show the grandeur of the human spirit. The purple and blue stain glass window nicely complements the gold. The dome covered with the frescos of the angels offers a glimpse of heaven, the eye of God, and the dove, which symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The Last Supper in the Cornaro Chapel shines in bright gold. The Last Supper is celebrated by the church in the ritual of communion. The gold, blues, and whites contrasted beautifully. The intertwined angles weaved masterfully and strategically by Bernini into the ceiling fresco has an effect of allowing angles to pop out from the flat heavens. The way the light is drawn into the church illuminates the angel and the gold rods increasing the intensity of the expression on Santa Teresa. The location of the sculpture amplifies its allegorical use of stressing thus the spiritual pain of God and the glory of the church.

This intensity of Bernini’s art is partly due to its construction during his time frame of the 17th century during the Counter Reformation. It was important for the Catholic Church to assert its dominance as a religious doctrine that portrayed the absolute truth about the Universe. The Church wanted strong art, like Bernini’s, that boldly made this statement. This leads me to question what ramifications comes from an artist working under such a limited scope of beliefs? Without the symbolic impart, Bernini’s art it would still contain the same attributes, such as breaking out of the frame, the intense use of light, and appeal to realism. One of Bernini’s earliest works as a child is the classically themed Amalthea and Infant Zeus with Satyr (Scribner p.50) I believe that without the catholic reformation Bernini’s works would most likely appeal to classical stories for wealthy patrons similar to this piece. This demonstrates that Bernini’s vision was not limited by the Church. Rather, their commissions encouraged him to use his skills and creativity to deliver the message of the Counter Reformation as well as create in oppressing the grandeur of the baroque.

Works Cited

Bruschini, Enrico. The Vatican Masterpieces. Edizioni Musei Scala, 2004.

Fagiolo, Maurizio. Bernini. Scala Books, 1981.

Gasbarra, Enrico. Bernini in Rome. Municipality of Rome, 2000.

.Hibbert. “The Sack of Rome; “Bernini and the Baroque”, CHID Reader.

Hibbard Howard. “On Bernini”. CHID Reader.

Hulten Pontus. Futurism & Futurisms. Abbeville Press, 1986.

Marder, T.A. Bernini and the Art of Architecture. Abberville Press Publishers 1998

Martin, John Rupert. The Baroque from the point of view of the Art Historian. CHID Reader.

Miglione Maria Rodino. Galleria Borghese 10 Masterpieces. Gebart SRL, 2006.