Explore the Artistic style of this artwork, Saint Longinus (Bernini).
Bernini is known for using intense emotion to communicate a psychological or spiritual awakening in his subject. The way in which he depicted a subject's fabric was often manipulated by Bernini to enhance the drama of the scene. Longinus's clothes twist and billow around him with great intensity, acting as a visual representation of Longinus's spiritual moment converting to Christianity. The billowing fabric also suggests another important trait of Baroque sculpture and Bernini's work, namely movement. Bernini has composed the scene as if the viewer has stumbled upon Longinus, frozen in time at the exact moment of his spiritual transformation. The fabric, depicted in what would otherwise be an unrealistic placement, suggests movement and that the viewer has just stumbled upon Longinus in his exact moment of spiritual awakening.Bernini has also elevated the drama of the scene by manipulating the construction of the sculpture to create sharp contrasts between light and dark. An iconic visual element of the Baroque era is chiaroscuro, or the contrast between light and dark, which served to heighten the drama of a scene. Bernini uses two techniques in this sculpture to facilitate this contrast and add more drama to the scene. Using a claw chisel, Bernini has created large and small linear patterns across the sculpture, or hatching effect commonly seen in drawings. Areas of the sculpture, especially in the fabric, are also heavily undercut to create pockets of shadow. These two techniques create more darker shadows in the sculpture that are juxtaposed against the bright white marble, thus enhancing the dramatic effect of light and shade.
Baroque sculpture Baroque Christianity chiaroscuro Bernini Longinus