This cardinal – a distant relative of Pope Clement X and his right-hand man – was granted by his patron, not only numerous functions, titles and apanages, but also a surname (Altieri), which similarly to every nepot he wanted to be respected and remembered, and he did succeed in this task, building a magnificent funerary monument for the pope after his death. However, this time he ordered a statue which was to commemorate, a woman deceased over one hundered years prior, his own aunt. It was no accident, since at that time the Church recognized her as blessed, which caused a spread of her cult in Rome. With this goal in mind, the Chapel of St. Anne in the Church of Francesco a Ripa on the Trastevere, where Ludovica was buried, was enriched. Its name was changed to the Altieri Chapel, while its principal element was to be the work of the ingenious Bernini.

Who was this relative of the cardinal, who was elevated in such a way? She was a Roman noblewoman. She was born in 1474 and was raised by her aunts. At around the age of nineteen she married a nobleman of equal status, then giving birth to three children. After the premature death of her husband in 1506, Ludovica left the secular life, as well as her under-age daughters and decided to join the Third Order of St. Francis, devoting the rest of her life to providing aid for lonely women as well as the poor and the ill of the Trastevere district. She died in 1533.

Bernini, as was fit for him, completed a truly scenographic design of the chapel, then around the year 1673 began creating the statue itself. In a dark space of the dome-covered chapel, illuminated by two windows found at the same height as the sculpture, lies the deceased woman, sculpted in white marble, torn by the convulsive spasms of agony. Our eyes wander deep into the chapel and rest on the figure lying on a mattress and a high pillow, but most of all on the face and the gesture of the hands held close to the heart. The figure is shown in a rather unusual for the then art, lying pose. The half-open mouth, a sigh and a spasm, which we notice, are well-known from Bernini’s other statues of women. This time the joy of meeting Christ, which is really what Bernini is depicting is not compared with the ecstasy of his other heroines (The Statue of St. Bibiana, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa). The artist following the stories told of the last moments of the blessed, shows a dying woman, who in the face of illness refuses help, entrusting herself to God. The artist therefore, shows death as something attributed to life, a state towards which all people strive. Ludovica is confronted with it, with hope and joy. In this way the grand master of the chisel introduces the motif of death into art, or more appropriately of dying. Not in an allegoric way, but a real, tangible one, since his heroine – at that time a fifty-eight-year-old woman – becomes and embodiment of the act of death. However, in order to appease this death and embellish it, the woman’s face is idealized. The subject of bidding farewell to life could not have been unknown to Bernini. His wife of thirty years had died in 1673.

The dying Ludovica rests above the altar, which serves as her bed. We can say that in the literal sense of the word she was “elevated” onto the altars, while the fabric spread in front of her mattress, in a finesse way covers the sarcophagus of the deceased woman, found inside the altar. This fabric sculpted out of bright jasper is not only a decorative element which we can encounter in the artist’s other works, but also reminds us of the habit of covering the coffin with fabrics, often decorated with family coat of arms.

We are reminded of the original patron of the chapel by a painting found above the sculpture – a work depicting The Madonna and Child with St. Anne, painted by Baciccio – a noteworthy Baroque artist of those years, with whom Bernini willingly cooperated. It is inside a frame which was also designed by Bernini. The side walls of the chapel depict two women connected with the Order of the Franciscans – St. Clare, the companion of St. Francis (on the left) and the aunt of the cardinal, who was most likely aspiring to be the continuator of the work of St. Clare.

When talks between the cardinal and Bernini were initiated, and this occurred in 1671, the artist was occupied with work on two significant projects – the funerary monument of Pope Alexander VII and the Altar of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter’s Basilica (San Pietro in Vaticano). He did not begin working until a few years later. However, why was it that a man who usually charged a lot for his services did not this time demand payment? Did he desire, as Michelangelo had in the past, in the face of impending death to offer his work to the Church? Was he besieged by a feeling of his own sinfulness? It should be assumed that rather not, and if it was about sin it probably concerned somebody else. Here, we must come back to the year 1670. Then, Luigi Bernini – the younger brother of Gian Lorenzo – was caught in the vestibule of St. Peter’s Basilica (behind the statue of Constantine the Great) in flagranti committing a deed at that time referred to as sodomy (pederastia), and he was accused at that time of forcing a young aide who worked on the completion of the decorative colonnade (Scala Regia) found nearby, to commit this sinful deed. His punishment could have even been the death penalty. In such a situation Luigi, who thanks to the protection of his ingenious brother held numerous posts in the Vatican (Vatican curator, architect, water reservoir expert), and in addition he supervised commissions for Gian Lorenzo, fled  to Naples which was outside the jurisdiction of Rome. His family was obligated to pay damages to the wronged youth, as well as paying the appropriate fine to the Vatican treasury. The city shook with rumors, while Bernini himself was covered with the odium of shame and humiliation. It was at that time that the patron of Bernini and the great admirer of his talent – Christina of Sweden made her move, in order to mediate between the sculptor and the omnipotent papal nepot, Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni. As a result Bernini promised to complete the statue of the blessed nun free of charge in exchange for saving his brother and the family fortune. And so it came to pass. Several months after the chapel was unveiled, in August of 1674, Luigi returned from exile. He did lose his current posts, however a few years later he was restored to one of his functions – his task was to bring water  to the fountains in St. Peter’s Square. As for the fines, these were substantially lowered. Well – we can say that thanks to a crime an outstanding work was completed, and… that is all.

Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1674, Altieri Chapel, Church of San Francesco a Ripa, white marble, gilded bronze, H. 90 cm, W. 210 cm