Bernini’s chapel, Duomo, Siena

(Earlier in the day, we were at Piccolomini’s library , Piccolomino’s altar , Outside the Duomo, and Piazza Il Campo )

 

May 28th, 2009

As Rick Steve puts it, the chapel can make a Lutheran light a candle. Bernini’s is Michelangelo’s stylistic heir, the king of Baroque. We had already seen his Neptune and Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi at Piazza Navona. His colonnade and his fountain in St. Pietro. His credentials were already good. Yet, this is where I bowed to him.

Especially two pieces.

Mary Magdalene The sculpture is a living example of the impact of renaissance on the art and mentality of the people of Tuscany. The statue could as well be Vanessa Mae’s. Curvaceous. Sensuous. One shapely bare leg confidently thrust out, the cloth an accessory to the nudity than cover. Yet, the expression of deep piety throwing the viewer into a storm of confusing thoughts.

And then you have St. Jerome.

Using the crucifix as a violin, eyes closed in extreme devotion, the gesture exaggerated and yet precariously balanced.

One would expect such pieces to hold center stage. They are not. You don’t see them when you enter the chapel. Such is their placement. You notice them only as you turn to leave. They rock you into shock,  the limbs refuse to budge. Mary on the right, St. Jerome on the left. The two symbols of absolution. And the genius of this man called Bernini.

 

(Read on: We are about to climb the Torre del Mangia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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