Saint Theresa "is a three-dimensional painting depicting a girl in a state of unconsciousness and the desire of the goddess of love to stab an arrow in her chest, carved with a hammer and chiseled on a marble.

Saint Theresa 1647-1652, height 350cm, marble
Lilaro Chapel of Santa Maria in Rome, Italy
GianLorenzo Bernini
Benini ordered the "Altar of Saint Theresa" at the Church of Saint Maria de Vittorida in Rome, with the main image of the Virgin Theresa and the goddess of love.
Teresa was a nun from 16th century Spain who devoted herself to practicing and serving God when she fell ill. Whenever she fell ill, she fell into a state of despair, with hallucinations in her mind and many miracles appearing. When she was sober, she remembered and recorded them, which has been passed down among the people. The church used her pathological memories to promote religious mysticism and canonized the nun as a saint.

This set of statues is a three-dimensional painting, carved with a hammer and chiseled on a marble to depict the girl's unconscious state and the love god's desire to stab an arrow in her chest. Theresa once recorded that I felt this arrow pierce through my heart, and when he pulled out the golden arrow, it was like pulling my heart. At this moment, I felt an infinite sweetness, and I really wanted to continue this pain forever. ł
Under Benini, Dresa was not a nun who devoted herself to cultivating and serving God, but rather a symbolic artistic image. He deliberately portrayed the complex hidden emotions of the girl's heart, transforming the mysterious illusion into a girl's obsession with love and desire in a hazy consciousness. Her coma and loss of consciousness are typical manifestations of a girl's longing for spring. The hard marble of the sculptor expresses the spiritual heritage of a young girl, but all of this was achieved under the cover of a mysterious religious cloak, which was a deliberate resistance to asceticism at that time. ł
The sculptor perceives and grasps the desires deep in the girl's heart in the group image, and the posture is appropriate. The movement of the little love god raising an arrow to stab is a beautiful dance movement, forming a harmonious rhythm with the posture of Dresa lying on his back, the collision of pain and happiness is about to occur, the expectation of desire fulfillment is about to be realized, and the stillness before piercing the excitement of the heart. The hard marble in Benini's hand is a foldable silk fabric, and the intricate pleats on the statue demonstrate the sculptor's superb skill in conquering the marble. The sculptor placed this group of statues in a large hanging background to echo the clouds at the bottom, causing the heavy marble to immediately float, which is consistent with the girl's obsession with being ethereal. Due to the configuration of the environment and light, this group of sculptures presents a theatrical effect of stage design.