Ecce Homo

Yup, behold the man: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, my all-time favorite sculptor. We had a lab excursion to the Getty today, and I was especially excited because I would get to see a special exhibition of Bernini's baroque portrait sculptures (I will blog on baroque some other time, because I need time to formulate what I want to say). True enough, the marble sculptures do not disappoint, most of them replete with Bernini's characteristic attention to details and realism which make them more fluid as opposed to cold, expressionless facade. This, to me, is best epitomized by Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa- Notice the almost orgasmic expression on St. Theresa's face (Yes, I know it's kind of wrong to use the word orgasmic on a divine figure, but I feel like this is the closest English word I can find to convey the message)























And here's another example of unparalleled realism of Bernini's work, found in the Rape of Proserpina- notice the marks that were left on the flesh by the hand as it presses on? Indeed, as a friend of mine once said, "God is in the details"































In any case, I bought and really recommend this book on Bernini by Rudolf Wittkower as it contains a pretty good pictorial summary of his works :)