Iris Sara Schiller

Born in Haifa, 1955
Lives and works in Paris

Iris Schiller traveled to the Church of Saint Francis in Rome in order to photograph The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni up close. Her camera is set down before the beautiful figure, yet looks away from her. The artist combed her own hair into a braided crown, so as to subtly approximate the sculptural presence in front of her. Ludovica's iconic figure is also reflected in the camera screen - creating a diagonal composed of three representations of women who are immersed in their own experience, while subject to the viewer's gaze.


The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni

Ludovica Albertoni joined the Franciscan order in Rome following the death of her husband, and devoted her life to assisting the poor. The monks at the Church of Saint Francis in Rome were her spiritual teachers, and that is where she was buried in 1533, in a chapel specially built for her tombstone. She was later beatified by the Church, and several artists competed to design her tomb. Bernini was 71 when he began working on the sculpture that commemorated her, and which was placed in the chapel in 1674.
Ludovica is captured lying recumbent on a bed in a moment of spiritual transcendence and union with God. Her head is thrown back, her mouth is wide open, and her eyes are shut. Her pose is reminiscent of an earlier sculpture by Bernini, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647-1652), which is located in another church in Rome, and which describes a mystical moment of union with an angel of God. Bernini's Ludovica and Teresa both represent instances of female ecstasy that conflate a mystical, religious experience with carnal desire.