ABSTRACT
In the early seventeenth century the principles of modern science came consciously into use in the work of Galileo Galilei. Galileo demonstrated that the magnitude of the universe was vastly greater than anything previously imagined. Five decades later Gianlorenzo Bernini expanded the ritual space of the monumental piazza fronting the basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. In contrast to Renaissance buildings self-contained entities, the colonnade of Saint Peter's typifies Baroque structures, which were designed to interact with their environments. The sculptor Bernini created a dramatic representation of Saint Theresa transported by her spiritual joy, The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, for the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Pietro Focile recounts an occasion in November 1560 when he went to confession at the imposing church of Saint John Lateran. In 1622, the same year that Theresa of Ávila was canonized, Pope Gregory XV also canonized another Spaniard, Francis Xavier.
