The sculpture of Blessed Ludovica Albertoni is among the last pieces made by the great sculptor Bernini toward the end of his life when he was 76, in 1674. It shows the mystic nun during one of her famous divinations where she felt God through her. Bernini chose to represent her on her deathbed, in a final moment of ecstasy.
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She lies on her back, and writhes in motion. She is so overwhelmed that the bedsheet has fallen on the floor. Bernini had two windows placed on each side, that were then covered with two artistic panels. This trick of the light created the perfect illumination for chiaroscuro (dark + light) upon the bedsheets and on Ludovica’s face. The viewer never sees the windows, only benefitting from their brilliance in the white marble and shadows.
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I visited at the end of the day when it was already dark inside the whole church, except for this little corner where a magnificent woman of white marble glowed from an invisible godly light.
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San Francesco a Ripa, Trastevere, Roma