Baroque Sculpture 2

Question 1

David

Answer 1

by Giolorenzo Bernini from 1623 in Italy

• Commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese
• Currently in the Villa Borghese in Rome
• Depicts the young King David preparing his slingshot to slay Goliath
• It took Bernini seven months to complete the sculpture
• It is said that a mirror was held for Bernini so he could sculpt his own features onto David’s head

Question 2

Baldacchinno

Answer 2

by Giolorenzo Bernini from 1624-33 in Italy

• The Baldacchino is also known as the honorific canopy
• Made for New St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
• Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII
• Bernini replaced Carlo Maderno, who completed New St. Peter’s Basilica, and became chief architect of the whole basilica
• The structure was built over the papal high altar of the church and the tomb of St. Peter

Question 3

St. Longinus

Answer 3

by Giolorenzo Bernini from 1629-38 in Italy

• St. Longinus is the name given to the Greek soldier who pierced the side of Christ with a spear during the Crucifixion
• Made for New St. Peter’s Basilica
• Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII
• The sculpture was cut from four pieces of stone

Question 4

St. Teresa in Ecstasy

Answer 4

Giolorenzo Bernini from 1645-52 in Italy

• Commissioned by Cardinal Federico Cornaro
• Built in the Cornaro Chapel of the Carmelite church of Santa Maria della Vittoria
• Bernini desired to make the altarpiece look like a drama performed on stage
• Depicts a moment during the last years of St. Teresa’s life in which she experiences a profound espousal to Christ
• St. Teresa was a counter-reformation saint and founder of the order of Discalced Carmelites

Question 5

St. Veronica

Answer 5

by Francesco Mochi from 1629-32 in Italy

• Made for New St. Peter’s Basilica
• Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII
• Western tradition says that Veronica met Jesus on his way to Calvary and she wiped the sweat and blood off his face with her veil thus leaving an imprint of Jesus’s face on the veil
• She is identified as the woman who touched Jesus’s garment in order to heal her internal bleeding in the Gospel of Nicodemus
• The name Veronica is derived from the Greek phrase, veron ikon, meaning true image