A Quiet Visit

In January 2000, at the tail end of a visit to Italy with my family, my oldest brother and I paid an early morning pilgrimage to Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Because I was so uncertain of my Italian and had struggled to find my bearings in our Rome neighborhood, he agreed to accompany me, and we took a cab from the Portoghesi at about 7:30 am.

From the outside, the church did not look special, even with its impressive stone facade. Accompanied by speeding traffic, I noticed no hint of the wonder inside. We entered into semi-darkness, alone, with only one praying nun and glorious art -- the reason for our journey -- as company. An art historian who has lived off and on in Italy, my brother had seen the church many times, so he took a seat right of the center aisle, prayed, and then allowed me to bask in the outrageous theatricality of one of my favorite installations, Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Cornaro Chapel.

the photograph is published on a blog named Panoramic Images of the World (http://static.flickr.com/99/254859447_856eb1943d_o.jpg)

Like a play, the scene unfolds in a theatre. Leaning out from stage left and right are patrons in their opera boxes. They gaze in wonder toward center stage where St. Teresa of Avila rises in ecstasy toward an angel. Above and behind her, golden arrow shafts descend in controlled frenzy from heaven, lit with brilliant light. (There is an ocular opening in the chapel wall to allow rising sunlight to flood the scene.) Around them all, fantastically colored marbles undulate with nearly sexual energy, mirroring the orgiastic spell under which Teresa is cast.

For half an hour, I stood in wonder. On quiet days, like today, when I have not even dressed, something reminds me unexpectedly of this morning visit. Today, it was a Time.com link to the Getty Museum's special Bernini portrait exhibit. Sometimes, it's a poem that lifts me, or a shaft of light breaking through a cloud, or marbleized paper. In every case, my mind floods with the unrestrained joy of Bernini's outrageous and masterful vision and carving.

I love Bernini and his Baroque imagination.