Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

You may wish to read a short introduction to this topic.
The death of Pope Alexander VII in 1667 marked the end of a period. His successors refrained from embarking on large and expensive renovations of churches. The activity of Gian Lorenzo Bernini slowed down: he worked for many years on a statue of King Louis XIV. In 1675 he designed a chapel in the peripheral church of S. Francesco a Ripa for the family Paluzzi-Albertoni (relatives of Pope Clement X), where his pictorial approach is even more evident than in the other chapels.

Overall view and the statue seen at natural light

The pictorial concept of the Blessed Lodovica Albertoni is revealed only by the correct standpoint inside the nave of S. Francesco a Ripa. (..) The carefully contrived framing devices almost force upon the spectator the correct viewing position.
Rudolf Wittkower - Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750 Penguin Books 1958
The viewer is guided towards the end of the chapel by a sort of frame. There is no traditional altar, but a composition made by different materials and by different artists (see a page on the use of colour in the churches of Rome). A coloured marble is shaped in the form of a drapery on which lies a statue of Blessed Ludovica Albertoni by Bernini. Above the statue a fine painting by Giovanni Battista Gaulli il Baciccio on a subject drawn by Bernini. Baciccio is best known for his ceiling at il Gesù. Slightly above the statue, in a very unusual position, two series of stucco angels converge towards it. Finally the entire wall is covered by a gilded decoration.

Where the light comes from

In all the large works from the middle period on, directed and often concealed light plays an overwhelmingly important part in producing a convincing impression of miracle and vision. Wittkower
Also in this chapel Bernini devised a hidden window to direct light on the body of Blessed Ludovica Albertoni.

Other chapels by Gian Lorenzo Bernini:
Cappella Raimondi in S. Pietro in Montorio
Cappella Cornaro in S. Maria della Vittoria

Other pages dealing with Baroque sculpture:
Statues in the act of praying
Baroque Angels
Monuments showing the dead in a medallion
Representation of Death in Baroque sculptures
Three busts by Alessandro Algardi
Baroque Monuments to the Popes
Bernini's Exiled Statue
Baroque High Reliefs
Statues Close to Heaven
Embittered Andrew (the statues in the Octagon of S. Pietro)
Playing with Colours
The Last Baroque Tomb
Laughing Masks
A Directory of Baroque Sculpture