This week in Christian history: Saint Nicholas dies, anti-witchcraft edict and papal bull

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, December 05, 2021

‘Ecstasy of Saint Teresa’ sculptor born – Dec. 7, 1598

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Italy. | iStock/Getty Images

This week marks the anniversary of when Italian architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the artist who created the famous sculpture “Ecstasy of Santa Teresa,” was born.

A native of Naples who was one of 13 children, Bernini became renowned for his Baroque style of sculpture and architecture, and would work for eight different popes during his lifetime.

“Bernini left a legacy in Rome, from which he drew upon his inspiration from ancient Hellenistic sculpting and forged it into the dynamic presence of the Baroque era,” noted the Sci Hi Blog.

“Bernini remained a vital and active artist virtually up to his death … and did not leave Rome – with one exception: the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV of France called him to draw up plans for the new Louvre (1665) in Paris. Although they were never executed, they nevertheless had a lasting influence on European secular architecture.”