The Catholic Counter-Reformation and Italian Baroque Art

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–52) is a sculpture by Neapolitan artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It portrays the singular moment of Saint Teresa’s religious ecstasy, as her heart is pierced by God’s love. Bernini was active in what became known as the Italian Baroque, an art movement closely tied to the religious upheavals of the time.

A century earlier, Pope Paul III had convened the Council of Trent (1545–1563) in a bid to counter the Protestant Reformation, which had swept across Europe, undermining Catholicism. To re-establish authority, the popes of the Counter-Reformation presented themselves as heirs of the Roman emperors, on a mission to restore the grandeur of ancient Rome.¹

In the decades following the Council of Trent, and under its influence, Catholic scholars also established stricter guidelines to which Catholic art, such as Bernini’s sculpture, should aspire. Artists were encouraged to focus on fundamental aspects of Catholic dogma, especially those threatened by the Protestant Reformation, such as the cult of the Virgin Mary.²

The Church also wanted art to be relatable to ordinary people, to inspire piety and faith in them³. Humanist influences such as Cicero’s thoughts on successful oratory — to delight, teach and persuade the audience — inspired the new Catholic message.⁴ Emotion too should be depicted in its extreme form, using the immediacy of the moment of action or transformation to establish a ‘closer psychological relation to the audience’⁵. As a result, a certain theatricality emerged in art.

Accordingly, Bernini’s sculpture is presented to the audience in an eruption of visceral emotion, surrounded by gold and marble architecture — elements that made Baroque art clear in message yet beautiful to behold.

Although the Church set out to only reform religious art, their influence was such that all Baroque art became ‘almost synonymous’ with Counter-Reformation art.⁶