The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

“I saw in his hands, a large golden arrow and at the end of the iron tip there appeared to be a little fire. It seemed to me this angel plunged the arrow several times into my heart and that it reached deep within me. When he drew it out, I thought he was carrying off with him the deepest part of me; and he left me all on fire with the great love of God. The pain was so great that it made me moan, and the sweetness this greatest pain caused me was so superabundant that there is no desire capable of taking it away.”






















French cardinal upon seeing the sculpture: "If that is divine love, I know it well."

(Autobiography) Teresa of Avila, 1560
(Sculpture) Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1645