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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

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Three chapels by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Cappella Cornaro

Cardinal Federico Cornaro, belonged to one of the richest families of Venice. With him, Bernini did not have budget limitations and he and his team worked for years (1647-1651) on a chapel in honour of St. Theresa in the church of S. Maria della Vittoria. Cardinal Cornaro required Bernini to execute personally the sculptures and the outcome is one of his masterpieces.

Seen from the exterior and the Ecstasy of Santa Teresa
(left) Cappella Cornaro seen from the exterior; (right) main altar


The light falls from hidden windows in the top of the altar on the statues of the saint and of the angel. The use of golden rays will again be considered by Bernini in St Peter's Chair of St Peter. The curved shape of the altar reminds me of the niches designed by Borromini in the same period in S. Giovanni in Laterano.

The stage boxes with the Cornaro family watching the ecstasy of St Teresa
(left) altar (right) coloured relief portraying Cardinal Federico Cornaro and members of his family watching the ecstasy of St. Theresa

Cardinal Cornaro wanted many members (including ancestors) of his family to be commemorated so Bernini devised two reliefs showing them in the background of the nave of a church. The first impression is to see them in the boxes of a theatre.

The ecstasy of St. Theresa
The ecstasy of St. Theresa

Details of the chapel
Details of the chapel: architecture of the church behind the Cornaro family; self-portrait of Gian Lorenzo Bernini; St Theresa's foot; a skeleton watching from the pavement

The genius of Bernini and the professionalism of his team are revealed by the attention to the details in all the elements of the chapel. Dan Brown set here an episode of his novel Angels and Demons; read some remarks on it.

Other chapels by Gian Lorenzo Bernini:
Cappella Raimondi in S. Pietro in Montorio
Cappella Paluzzi Albertoni in S. Francesco a Ripa

Other pages dealing with Baroque sculpture:
Monuments showing the dead in a medallion
Representation of Death in Baroque sculptures
Statues in the act of praying
Three busts by Alessandro Algardi
See also my List of Baroque Architects and my Directory of Baroque Sculpture.