In the Baroque era patronage is the most common way for an artists to get work. Patronage is the act of someone with a great deal of wealth giving their financial support to an artist to commission them to make a painting, a sculpture, a play or a piece of music. Since the Patrons hire the artists to not just make them beautiful art, but make them something that symbolizes their status and wealth, certain themes arise in these works of art. These are ones of ornamentation, grandeur, theatrical elements, and the notion that there is action happening beyond the frame. Artists like Bernini and Rembrandt are prime examples of how patronage affects their art, whilst still being part of the baroque era. These Baroque elements are so engrained in the system of patronage that even outside the Baroque era when an artist is commissioned through the patronage system their work can’t help but take on these and other baroque elements.

Starting with an artist like Bernini who under the patronage system created some of the most revered sculptures of the baroque era. Born in Naples, Italy Bernini got a lot of his patronage form Italians. One of his more notable patronages includes the sculpture of “The Ecstasy of St. Teresa” which was commission by the Cornaro family for their personal chapel. The sculpture represents a deeply religious act and was used in part to show off the wealth of the Conaro family. Bernini also sculpted the family themselves as spectators of the sculpture. This