Gianlorenzo Bernini in the context of "Italian architect"

Ecstasy (from Ancient Greek ἔκστασις (ékstasis) 'outside of oneself') is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject with an object of their awareness. In classical Greek literature, it refers to removal of the mind or body "from its normal place of function."

Total involvement with an object of interest is not an ordinary experience. Ecstasy is an example of an altered state of consciousness characterized by diminished awareness of other objects or the total lack of the awareness of surroundings and everything around the object. The word is also used to refer to any heightened state of consciousness or intensely pleasant experience. It is also used more specifically to denote states of awareness of non-ordinary mental spaces, which may be perceived as spiritual (the latter type of ecstasy often takes the form of religious ecstasy).

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official art museum of the state of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida, United States. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable Burton Ringling and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State University assumed governance of the museum in 2000.

The institution offers 21 galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities and Asian, American, and contemporary art. The museum's art collection consists of more than 10,000 objects, including paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photographs, and decorative arts from ancient through contemporary periods. Notable holdings include 16th–20th-century European paintings, especially a significant collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens. Other artists represented include Benjamin West, Marcel Duchamp, Mark Kostabi, Diego Velázquez, Paolo Veronese, Rosa Bonheur, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Giuliano Finelli, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Frans Hals, Nicolas Poussin, Joseph Wright of Derby, Thomas Gainsborough, Eugène Boudin, and Benedetto Pagni.