".+-T Or the Occasion Plan of the Roman College the Fifth Centenary and of the Church of St

Home , Andrea Pozzo, Bernardino Ludovisi, Orazio Grassi, Roman College

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.".+-t or the occasion Plan of the Roman College the Fifth Centenary and of the Church of St. lgnatius of in the year 1650. of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Sociep of Jesus and creator ''¡ t¡ - ,]] i' the Collegio Romano, i; ! of '1,ìrr lrllÌìill il lt1,llilii1 iili . .,r.'t ':' liliillr:: the first free school ljll ...r tl I't';,,;rt , rr i fi:," ,'' j ii_-l tl .. 'l¡ in the world, lì i, l 1,, "religion and the arts" lil 1....,.:: rl dedicated to 'Li -t ll i: youth nation. i,ì ¡ .. rì l, for all oÍ every l.-i tì ir.-.i tl For the 450th anniversary L--ì jÌ f -.-'- \:l .rÌ ¡l of the approval t¡ L ì.1,_. i.:-; r'- .i, i ';} of the Formula of the Institute ¡ il ii: Society of Jesus i: I ,L.il of the ' 'tl :: ;ì by Pope Paul Lil. ¡, I :.,. l'' For the Fourth Centenary :...... :: of the death I of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Father G. Libianchi, Rector, il Fr. G. Peri, Z. Carlucci, t., and Br. L. Gutierrez, with the assistance of B. Kuppler, T. Lucas, Mario and Gabriella Della Rosa ii;, f. :'.'...-, .: and the Missionaries "Verbum Dei" :,:.-.-i r'. . ...1 t-- l) have reedited this booklet t:..=.: j with devotion and great love i1 ;) 2 for the sainted Founder, Ignatius.

Grafica 1. Main Entrance. Gian Carlo Olcuire 2. Nave. 3. Chapel of St. Christopher. Foto 4. Chapel of St. Joseph (or the Sacripante Vasari - Roma Chapel). 5. Chapel of St. Joachim (or St. Robert Bellarmino). Stampa 6. Chapel of St. Gregory. Pegaso 2O01 srl 7. Chapel of the Immaculate Virgin. 067142294 8. Chapel of the Sacred Heart (or the Crucifix). O Novembre 2OO2 9. Transept (Chapels of St. Aloysius Ristampa . Gonzaga and of St. John Berchmans). Chiesa di San'lgnazio 10. Apse. Roma 11. The Ludovisi Chapel. 12. Sacrisþ. .l 3 Church of the Annunziata - 'J'T'-

The solemn, severe façade, lightened by plastic relief and chiaroscuro play is the work of the Jesuit Orazio Grassi. und any churches, great and small, sprang young, and the PhilosoPhit:I,, up in Rome during the XVI and XVII íheolãgical training of the C-atholic centuries. The largest were attached to ;þrsy äll-o'uãi tn"ïorld' The Roman the residences of the Superiors of new CotËgn had various provisional cen- religious orders, such as S. Andrea tres r-intil 1560 when lt established lt- della Valle, Gesù, S. Carlo ai Catinari, self in a number of buildings donated Chiesa NuoVa. Other churches were by the Marchesa della Tolfa in the area built by national or regional communi- nôw partially occupi ed by the Church ties, such as S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, of St. Ignatius. Between 7562 and S. Carlo al Corso dei Lombardi and 7567 the adjacent Church of the An- others. nunziata was built, with its façade on The church of St. Ignatius was built the present via di S. Ignazio. as church of the Roman College which The new college was inaugurated in was the work of St. Ignatius and 1584, three years after Gregory XIII's founded in 1551 as a "School of gram- decision to construct it, the acquisition mar, humanities and Christian doc- of the area and beginning of the work trine, free of charge". Thus, to under- in 1581. In order to make the centre as stand the spiritual function of the large and as suitable as possible lor sacred building, we must look briefly teaching, Gregory XIII was responsible at the origins and developments of the for construction of the southern part of cultural institute which gave it birth. the building, and also provided finan- cial aid so that teaching could continue The idea of founding the Roman lree of charge. College was one of the most produc- tive initiatives which ever occurred to Ignatius. There were few institutes so effective and of such universal importance within the movement of spiritual restora- tion developped by the Council of Trent. In 1556 Father J. Polanco, sec- retary to lgnatius, wrote to Philip II as A single wide nave covered follows: "Since all the good of Chris- with a banel vault summarizes tianiþ and of all the world depends on all space in its width: the architectural frames the good education of the young, for are enriched by precious which purpose able and wise teachers marblework and agile are most necessary, the Company has plasterwork. The elegant accepted the noticeable but not succession of white pairs "less of fluted pilasters reinlorces less important task of educating these the wide lateral openings same youths" (Cartas de St. Ign., VI and creates a sense of spacial pp. 160-161 Madrid 1889). "detachment" between the deep darkness of the chapels The Roman College was the model and the wrdespread luminosity for hundreds of other junior and senior of the nave, thus accentuating schools and for universities run by the the devotional significance a great contri- of the former as places Jesuits, who made such of meditation and conlemplation. bution to the spread of science and lit- lnternal dimensions: length 81.50 m.; oratl'r'o thp Chrictian education of the width 44 m.; heiqht 30 m. ,:\1,,r

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s the years passed, the Church of the 1.,. Annunziata became insufficient for t, over two thousand students of many nations who were attending the Col- lege at the beginning of the XVII century. Gregory XV was an old pupil of the school and was strongly attached to it. He had also canonized lgnatius in 1622. Thus he suggested to his neph- ew, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, that a temple should be erected to the founder of the Company of Jesus, at the College itself. In this way the church of the saint would be bound to the school, which had put into nractice that universalitv which had been the driving force be- many members of the Sacred College hind Ignatius' faith and work. The attended this mass. young cardinal accepted the idea en- The church was opened for public thusiastically, asked several architects worship only in 1650, the Holy Year. to draw plans, and finally chose that of In 1694 the decoration of the ceiling Father Orazio Grassi, Professor of was completed, but the final solemn Mathematics at the College itself consecration of the holy edifice was (1583-1654). The foundation-stone celebrated only in 7722 by Cardinal was laid only in 7626 on the 2nd of Zondadari, with a display of pomp and August, four years later, a delay which magnificence rarely seen. The work of was caused by the inevitable slowness embellishment and improvement con- with which such decisions are put into tinued in the church, especially the force and partly by the fact that, in gilding of the various stuccoes and the order to made room for the new pavement, which was entirely reset in church, a section of the buildings be- 191,6. longing to the Roman College (Colle- gio Romano) had to be dismantled, in- After two centuries of vicissitudes, cluding the little church of the "Annun- the extremely important 1963 restora- ziatina". tion once again brought to light the canvas of Andrea Pozzo's perspectival On the death of Cardinal Ludovisi dome. Already in the mid-1700's it (1632) the construction was continued, was no longer visible due to the ac- thanks to a generous legacy of two cumulation of lampblack from burning hundred thousand scudi which the cañdles below and other. Moreover, in original donor had assigned to this 1891 the burst of the powder maga- purpose in his will. zine in Monteverde opened large tears As was customary in Rome after the in the canvas, which was then hidden Council of Trent when churches with a drapery until its recent restora- sprung up ,almost like mushrooms in tion. the night, one might sây, and the number of similar undertakings gave rise to a scene of endless building ac- ln the frescoes in the apse tivity, the construction proceeded fairly and the High Altar, where Rubens' influence is rapidly, but afterwards delays were ex- strongly felt, Pozzo deals asperating and it seemed as if the with the most significant building would never be finished. episodes, from the life of Cardinal Ludovisi probably St. lgnatius. ln the semi- had dome of the apse, the hoped to see the church finished by Saint, moving through the 1640, the centenary year of the found- air, heals a plague-stricken ing of the Society of Jesus. In fact, in city while at the High Altar is the depiction of the order to celebrate this anniversary a farnous vision of "La solemn mass was celebrated on August Storta" (1537), and the 7th although the building was not yet sides contain on the lefl, was the St. lgnatius sending St. completed. Nevertheless, such Francis Xavier to the important role which the SocieÇ of Je- lndies and on the right, strs had assumed during the Counter- lgnatius welcoming St. Reformation, that Pope Urban VIII and Francis Borgia to the company lt-

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'l Ti he church was erected on the spot where the Temple of Isis had stood in Imperial Rome; this was the heart of the Egyptian district in the ciÇ. The present façade stands where the Acqua Vergine once flowed down in a cascade; it still runs beneath the ground. The church's entrance now faces on to the Piazza Sant'lgnazio whose skilful scenographic efîect acts as a frame contrasting with the solemn and majes- tic impression created by the façade. The charming rococo piazzetta was planned by the architect Filippo Ra- guzzini (1680-1771), who, although he was criticised on many sides for "those ridiculous houses like sidewings", nevertheless succeeded excellently in giving the piazza greater breadth and movement so that the façade would stand out in greater relief and be more fully appreciated. The building-plans were commissioned from Domenico Zampieri called "il Domenichino" (1581-1641), who had'been nominat- ed as the apostolic architect by Pope Gregory XV. Two drawings in the I Windsor Castle Collection shgw his various projects, The plans were not carried out as originally intended, however, and the few traces still visible are ciety of Jesus were the main artificers to be found in the idea of the free col- of the building: Father Grassi for the urnns used to sustain the arches of the architecture and Brother Pozzo for the chapels: this is evidently a pictorial decoration. motive easily comprehensible in an artist who was more interested in pictures and in, colour than in architecture. The final plan was designed by the Jesuit Orazio Grassi (1583-1654), a mathematician and architect; he re- elaborated Domenichino's plans to such an extent as to render the latter's part in the construction of the church a rnere episode in the history of the building. Thus two members of the So- ccording to the latest in-depth studies of the records, the church FAÇADE is indeed the work of the Jesuit Father Orazio Grassi. In fact, his plan was examined and approved on 7th April 7627 by a Commission whose members were, among others, Carlo Ma- derno, Paolo Maruschelli, Orazio Tor- riani, Gasparo Vecchi and Domeni- co Zampieri. However, as is stated in the church registers, it was suggested that the architect have a wooden model made. Father Grassi then began di- recting the work, but when called upon to teach in the colleges at Siena and Savona, his place was taken by Father Antonio Sasso. The new direc- tor made some unauthorized modifica- tions such as raising the façade by 26 palms (over 5 metres). His action caused the creation of a new commission presided over by the architects Martino Lunghi and Orazio Torriani, and a debate on the matter. "lVe, the undersigned professors of architecture in Rome, having been re- quested to judge whether the model and design of the church of St. Ignatius done by Very Reverend Father Horatio I Grassi has been in fact infringed upon... we judge that it has most evident- For the altar of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, ly been tampered with, and the in- 'lil ü in the right arm of the transept, two larger- fringements should be emended and than-life-size angels were carved in marble removed etc... (Arch. Soc. Jesu, 149, by Bernardino Ludovisi, a student of Bernini. 'l:j The angels hold lilies, symbolizing the purity x, 3). of the Saint's life. While the statues do show The only novelty in comparison with perhaps a rather mannered grace, they are ,* other churches of the period is the ac- the product of a great knowledgeable o technique and an exquisitely light touch, ' centuated plasticiÇ of the structural of the sculptor's chisel, The slight elements, an emphasis which inevita- movements of the drapery, treated as though at bly leads to a play of strong contrast of .,.t it were "wet cloth" wrap the angels' limbs light and shade. Two huge columns in a sensuous movemenl, underlining the tender delicate outlines of lheir young leaning against pilasters in the centre ..': lì adolescent bodies. The taste of the new of the façade create an effèct of chia- century makes itself parlicularly felt roscuro which diminishes towards the in the more graceful coy postures although r{¡ there is still too much of Bernini present .'i sides until it reaches the narrow pilas- to allow Ludovisi a certain independence ters supporting the entablature. The towards baroque forms, central portal is nevertheless somewhat compressed by the heavy thrust of the he lesson taught by the Church of the columns and this effect is not lessened Gesù is also re-echoed in the INTE- by the heavy arched Çmpanum, a mo- RIOR of the church: one single nave tive that is repeated immediately covered with a barrel-vault comprises above the cornice. the whole breadth and length up to Two niches of a simple but graceful the transept. o line in the spaces beside the columns The sides are broken up by the deep create an interval of shadow before the recesses of the chapels, which are ar- eye is drawn once more to the lumi- ticulated in a most original way by nous highlights provided by the wide openings both dividing and link- coupled pilasters. This arrangement of ing them together, so that the impres- architectural elements is repeated in an sion is created of two aisles given har- almost identical form above the entab- monious rhythm by a series of arches lature, but the general eff.ect is lighter. and columns. The huge arcades open- In this case the values of light and ing on to the nave, rest on pink marble shade in the play of the various details columns and are divided by pilasters have a more balanced rhythm; the with high coupled and fluted slabs central window, corresponding with which sustain the entablature. This in- the portal, acts as a kind of magnet for terruption of white among the rosy the columns and jutting pilasters and shade of the columns produces a slow- as a focal point in relation to the two ing-down of the rhythm towards the side-niches. transept, so that the eye is almost led The façade terminates in a huge un- to dwell upon the shadowed zone of dulating triangular tympanum while the chapels at the sides. The motive of two large volutes above the corner pi- the cherubs with garlands and coats-of- lasters link up the lower zone with the arms above the arcades is evidently in- upper part, following a type already spired by Algardi's art and serves to tried out in the Church of the Gesù, lighten the weight of the entablature whose architecture had become F above by providing an intermediate model from the beginning of the cen- zone of chiaroscuro effect between the tury. upper part and the chapels below. Apart from their original architectonic purpose, which is to be attributed as we have seen to Domenichino who takes up a Palladian theme with his idea of the free columns and the slend- er little domes above] the chapels are not. of any particular interest, since they.'are rather poor from the point of view of decoration. The SACRIPANTE CHAPEL which follows, is by far the most beautiful and the most lavishly decorated chapel in the church on account of the wealth of rare marbles covering its walls and creating the effect of a coloured interi- t or, which bursts as a surprise upon the visitor coming from the neighbouring chapels. The altar is given an undulat- ing movement and is flanked by two green columns supporting the broken Çmpanum, with adoring angels. A painting in the centre, by the Veneto ïhis picture (1700) is on artist Fran cesco Trevisani (1656-17 46) the altar of the first chapel represents "The Death of St. Joseph", on the righl. lt represents painted in honour of Cardinal Giu- the Virgin Mary with the generous Christ Child, the French seppe Sacripante a ben- saint Francis Regis and efactor of the chapel, who is also bur- the Polish Stanislaus ied there. This work, which is extreme- Kostka. ly mannered in the attitudes of the figures portrayed, is enlivened by a skilful sense of colour and by the creation of unexpected zones of light around the chief groups. The lunette on the right, placed on the spot where St. Aloysius died, in the sick-room belonging to the Roman College, is also by Trevisani; it repre- is sents the Saint's last communion and 11 similar, in composition, to some paint- ings by Saraceni and Maratta, although .The CHAPEL OF ST. CHRISTO- it is softened here and there by some PHER, the first on the right when en- touches which could only come from tering the church, is embellished by the Veneto. The lunette opposite, the certainly not-unusual motive of two which is even more academic in taste, precious columns in giallo antico fram- is to be attributed to another disciple ing the altar and supporting the þmpa- of the school of Maratta, Giuseppe num on which.two angels are perched. Chiari (1654-7727) and represents A painting in the centre, by an un- Blessed Lucia of Narni, whose home known Roman artist of the eighteenth town was the same as Sacripante's. century, a follower of Maratta, represents "St. Stanislaus Kostka and St Francis Regis in the act of venerating the Queen of Heaven". The following CHAPEL, dedicated to ST. JOACHIM, brings us back to the predominating grey and bare atmosphere of the other chapels. A me- diocre painting above the altar, depicts St. Robert Bellarmine of the Society of Jesus, who is also buried here. The altar-front is by Stefano Pozzi (1708- t768) and is far inferior to Trevisani's painting.

The altar of the CHAPEL OF ST. GREGORY, the first on the left, is The altar of the chapel of adorned with a late seventeenth-cen- St. Joseph or Sacripante, tury painting by the Jesuit father Pierre which is the second on De Lattre, whose Flemish origin may the right-hand side of the be detected his accurate and minute church, has a beautifr' in canvas by Francesco love of detail. The painting, in bright Trevisani (1656-1746) colours with vivid light-effects standing depicting the "Death of on the altar of the following chapel is St. Joseph", certainly one of the Venelo artist's best also by De Lattre. It represents St. works. A ray of radiant Francis Xavier and St. Francis Borgia light suddenly illuminates adoring the Sacrament. the dying figure, creating a refined play of colouristic effects which redeem the The "little nave" terminates in the overtly academic setting CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX, contain- of the composition. ing a wooden Crucifix carved in a handsome style in the eighteenth century but so covered with reliquaries and "ex-voto" (offerings) as to be almost invisible. The cupola is embellished with rather indifferent nine- teenth-century frescoes. The altar is flanked by yellow marble columns supporting the tympanum, as we have already seen in the Chapel of St. Chris- topher.

The arms of the transept appear to be a continuation of the sidechapels. They contain the magnificent altars of St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. John Berchmans. The altar painting by 'l) The great church of St. ' "i'¡ t Stefano Pozzi represents lgnatius certainly could St. Joachim with the lnfant not forget memory of aÌ the Mary. :1 St. Roberto Bellarmino, the Jesuit theologian and cardinal. ln accordance with the desire expressed in his will, he is buried near lhe tomb of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, his great pupil. The urn 5 containing the saint's remains is located under the altar of the chapel of .4. St. Joachim adiacent to that of St. Aloysius. he ALTAR OF ST. ALOYSIUS erected contrast of lines. two years after that of St. Ignatius in Not that Pozzo was introducing new the Church of the Gesù, by the Tren- elements: after the baldaquin of St. Pe- tine artist Andrea Pozzo (1642-7709), ter's, Rome had been filled with twist- is one of the outstanding examples ed columns and a wealth of beautiful of seventeenth-century baroque art. marble was to be seen everywhere (we A comparison with the altar of the recall the Cybo Chapel in Santa Maria Church of the Gesù is inevitable and del Popolo and the Spada Chapel in we f.eel entitled to affirm that, except S. Girolamo della Carità), but these for some details in the ornament, such had always been solutions lacking in as ihe exquisite bronze balustrade, the some essential element. The two great prize for beauÇ must go to the altar of geniuses of the period were Bernini St. Aloysius. Whereas, in the case of and Borromini. The former tended too the altar of St. Ignatius, movement was much towards the monumental in his given by the breaking-up of angles and scenographic compositions, the other by the contrasting of line, here the worked far too much at a definite whole composition seems to soar or- programme. The Jesuit Pozzo had re- ganically upwards, as if driven by the course for inspiration to both of them spiral columns; the plastic modulation with a sense of proportion Çpical of tends to absorb and harmonise the li- his own genius. He borrowed from near movement. both of them without losing his own The altar was built thanks to a mu- liberty of composition and with a pow- nificent donation by Prince Scipione er of synthesis which together form the Lancellotti, as the two coats-of-arms at chief novelþ of the last phase of the the sides, below the bases of the col- baroque style in Rome. This novel out- umns, and an inscriptioñ in the pave- look was, evident also in the signifi- ment recall. It is embellished with four cance given to the twisted column, splendid twisted columns of verde anti- which is no longer considered as an

+ co marble, whose spiral movement is autonomous feature in the architec- outlined in gilded bronze vine-wreaths. ture, but has the function of increasing Columns of this size made of such the scenographic effect of the building costly material had never been seen in as a whole. Colour, too, is no longer Roman churches before this and they conceived as a means necessarily must have caused a great sensation: adopted in order to conceal shortcom- they may appear to modern eyes as a ings and to divert attention from the sign of decadence in the period, but architectonic structure: the exquisite for those living at the time this synthe- harmony of the tender shades of pink, sis of movement and splendour must yellow, deep blue and green usher in a have represented an authentic renova- new conception, calmer and more tion in art, after the colourlessness of moderate in tone, indicating that taste the Counter-Reformation. A transmu- had changed. Certainly, the Çmpanum tation of form mingled with costly mar- at the end is replaced by the multiple bles was something quite "unknown" line of the entablature, but here, too, for an altar, except for the precedent all the details are soft and airy, with an of the altar of St.' Ignatius in the upward thrust. Church of the Gesù, which, however, The columns of the concave altar was carriecl out with too emnhatic a frame a marble altar-niece rpnrpspnf- Altar of St. Aloysius: the architecture is by Pozzo, the marble altar-piece by Piene Le Gros and the sculptures by Ludovisi

15 ing the apotheosis of. the Saint, a re- he left arm of the crossing, opposite, markable work by Pierre Le Gros, of contains the ALTAR dedicated to the Bernini school (1665-1719). Here the ANNUNCIATION (L749) and to the sculptor finally succeeds in freeing ST. JOHN BERCHMANS, another himself from a too strict adherence to saint of the Society of Jesus, whose the models of his master, and achieves mortal remains were brought to the a style of his own, suffused with air church after his beatification in May and light; the work breathes an atmos- 1865. The architectonic structure, phere of spiritual comprehension of identical with that of the altar of St. the scene depicted. The marble is so Aloysius' Gonzaga, was designed by treated as to emphasise the luminosity Andrea Pozzo. The sÇle of composi- of the various planes, which succeed tion of the marble altar-piece is quite one another in depth so that every as- different, however; it is by the Floren- pect of the composition melts, as it tine sculptor, Filippo Valle (1698- wete, into the following one, without 7770). This altar-piece was executed in any feeling of opposition or contrast. 1750 from a drawing by Pozzo, but it The Saint in glory seems to free him- gives evidence of a totally rigid con- self only with an effort from the band ception of Bernini's forms, and since it of rejoicing angels whose exquisite remained untouched by the more sub- lines and mischievous vitality seem to tle and elegant manner fashionable in have been designed by the brush of a the North a style which never Correggio rather than by the tools of a reached Rome it seems to be a cold XVII century sculptor. Le Gros's altar- and austere form- of classicism, the on- piece, therefore, accords perfectly with ly positive qualiþ being the attempt to the architecture of the altar itself, on achieve a precise expression of reli- account of the spirit of harmony it pos- gious sentiment. The figures on the sesses and the soft chiaroscuro linking tympanum and the angels on the bal- it to the spiral movement of the col- ustrade are far more worthy of atten- 6 umns. Two marble figures seated on tion. They are by the Roman sculptor the Çmpanum, representing Mortifiia- Pietro Bracci (1700-7773). In this tion and PuriÇ, worthily complete the sculpture the influence of Bernini is ex- monument; they were also carved by a pressed with such a light tot¡ch that, al- pupil of Bernini's school, Bernardino though the angels were made in the Ludovisi (1773-7749). He also sculp- middle of the eighteenth century, their tured the two angels on the balustrade. suave and somewhat precious attitudes The Saint's urn stands below the altar can bear comparison with those by and adds another element of lavish Bernini himself in Sant'Andrea delle splendour to the composition. It is Fratte. made entirely of lapislazuli with orna- ments in silver and gilt-bronze. Two rather mannered cherubs bearing lilies and scourges, by Ludovisi, recall St. Aloysius Gonzaga's ascetic life. Altar of Annunziata and St, John Berchmans: the architecture is by Andrea Pozzo, the marble altar- piece by Filippo Valle, the figures on the tympanum and the angels on the balustrade are by Pietro Bracci.

17 Another chapel with the SEP- ULCHER OF GREGORY XV is found on the left of the altar of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Cardinal Ludovisi is buried at the foot of the statue of the Pope; note the handsome portrait in the oval frame supported by cherubs. This somewhat overloaded and exag- gerated monument contrasts violently with the dim light and the grey walls of the rest of the chapel; it was carved by Bernini's pupils Le Gros and Monnot, who appear in this work to be so closely bound to the aesthetic and technical lessons of their master that the result is somewhat impersonal. The huge draperies, upheld by hovering angels, form a kind of niche around the papal throne, but instead of giving the whole monument a sense of move- seems'to bear down //)' ment, their weight ,{Jlt upon the figures below. The reason for b . ':t!g¡--Y this this effect is that the drapery has in Ii', case lost the function Bernini had giv- A en it in his various works, and is treat- ò; ed as an autonomous element in the itl composition. This reveals its essentially m superfluous character, on the one "ilt) hand, and on the other only serves io B L ,tl2 emphasise the elaborate character of :ùq the composition. The niches at che corners of the chapels contain female statues in stucco, made by the Mila- nese sculplor Camillo Rusconi (1658- 1728); they symbolise the four cardinal virtues. Although these statues are not lacking in a certain grace, they are treated in such a minute and recherché manner that they almost overstep the limits of a pure intellectual exercise. The influence of Bernini's "Truth re- vealed by Time" or the angels in San- t'Andrea delle Fratte, is far too apparent in the handling of the folds and e- ven more evident in the figures themselves. "Temperance" is superior to the others of the group. Here we find Ru- n returning to the transept we are struck not only by the appealling beau- 9 gf the altars but by the lack of a CUPOLA. The story of the non-existent cupola of the church of St. Ignatius is singular. When the church was first opened to the public for worship it had not yet been completed on account of the slowness with which the building work proceeded, as we have already seen. Further delays rendered its construr:- tion improbable: Cardinal L,udovisi Funeral monument to had died and funds began to be Gregory XV and Cardinal scarce. A plan presented by Father Ludovico Ludovisi by the Grassi during this period suggested a French sculptors Le Gros monumental character, and Monnot. solution of a that is to say, a cupola only a little smaller than that of St. Peter's and larger than that of Sant'Andrea della Valle, would have been the only one suitable to honour the Saint who had founded the Society of Jesus. But very few people still had any interest in see- "Temperance" by Camillo ing the building of such a dome. The Rusconi (1658-1728) of Milan is the best of the Dominicans of the neighbour:ing four plasterwork statues church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva located in the niches in were certainly opposed to it, for it the corners of Gregory XV's Chapel-monument. would have darkened their library ancl 19 so, for similar reasons, were manY of the Jesuits themselves, who taught at sconi yielding to the suggestion of his the Roman College. own lyrical imagination, and forgetting Father Grassi, who was indefatiga" for a moment the accepted canons that ble, then produced another plan, until now he had reproduced in far too much more modest when comparecl academic a manner. with the earlier one, so that the churcll would not appear unfinished in its very centre, but nothing was done about it. The final solution was proposecl by Carlo Maratta, one of the most popular painters of altar-pieces of that periocl. This was accepted. Pozzo, who u¡as then working in the North of Italy and had by now become famous as a Paint- eÍ of monumental perspeetives, \.¡,/as summoned to put Maratta's suggestion into practice: this was to solve the Andrea Pozzo: large canvas in prospective of the cupola; classic example of 17th century illusionistic ability.

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problem of the dome not by architec- painstaking in achieving the correct ef- tural means but by painting. fects of foreshortening and harmony Nowadays we may perhaps rejoice between the various details. He has in the fact that Brother Grassi's plans left innumerable drawings in which e- were never carried out. The optical ef- very detail is given its proper emphasis fect for the visitor proceeding up the and accurate structure. nave is astonishing in the true sense of The success of this dome was imme- the word, and shows a consummate diate: the century of Marino and the mastery of technique and the theory poetics of the "marvellous" could not and application of perspective. Anyone remain unmoved in the presence of studying the pages of the "Treatise on this new work of art laid upon its al- Perspective" realises at once that tars. Nowadays the criterion of values Brother Pozzo was passionately inter- naturally appears a mistaken one; we ested in his perspective compositions are led rather to consider the work and in their scenographic efÍect not from the point of view of its consum- nnl. naccinnafolrt inloroclorl hrrt- rnnct r¡-tato fpnhninlra and âs an pxercicp than as a means of creating an illusion and sense of wonder in the beholder. What interests us chiefly is not only the final result obtained but the value of the problems of projection, bearing in mind that the problem in the dome of St. Ignatius is not only one of perspective but is also the determination of the exact focal point, in order that the 14¿-!c+-í painting, placed 34 metres above the ground, may nevertheless give anyone looking at it, the exact proportions of the cupola following the visual angle from which it ls seen. ln the spandrels between The success of this work was such lhe powerful arches that that a short time later, between 1685 were to sustain the thrust of the cupola, there are and 1686, Pozzo was commissioned to still frescoes by Andrea carry out the decoration of the whole Pozzo with the figures of church. This was really an occasion on David, Judith, Samson which he could give full rein his i- and Joel. The detarl seen to here depicts David holding magination, which had been held in by the hair the head of check far too long in the narrow at- the vanquished Goliath. mosphere of the North; only in Rome, where similar experiments had already been made, could he find a field of ac- tivity for his own genius as a painter. It seems as though every square inch of frescoed surface filled him with the de- light of creation, as if he felt a mystic 21 jõy in illustrating the glory of the Sâint. ' Colour and light mingle to form a lim- pid, iridescent atmosphere, that was to take up the theme of 'an isolated figure be found again later in the Liechten- and in this case he is unable to free stein Palace in Menna and had its apoth- -himself from the influence of the eosis in Tiepolo's work in Würzburg. school and sÇle of Carracci, although The figures of Joel, Samson, Judith this was by now out-moded and no and David in the SPANDRELS OF longer found its place even in provin- THE DOME and the scenes in the cial or old-fashioned schools of paint- arms of the TRANSEPT are less lively ing. Not even his use of colour suc- and understated in tone, an indication ceeds in enlivening the enforced but that he needed to spread his composi- inconsistent plasticiþ. Confined within tions over a wide surface and that his tal- narrower spatial limits, Pozzo uses col- lent expressed itself more successfully our in contrasting zones, but the only in illustration than in synthesis; this was result is to break up the lines of the fig- an obvious legacy from his "Venetian" ures even further. training. The spandrels of the dome, for instance, show Pozzo obliged to

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f, r I'l l i ll l,i fi I I j I I I\\I I atmospheric effects. was wounded, returned to the Chris- The large pictures at the sides con- tian faith. tinue to illustrate the life of St. Ignatius. On returning to the middle of the We are shown two fundamental epi- crossing we should notice how the lack sodes in the development of the So- of a real cupola does not plunge this cieÇ of Jesus: "St. Ignatius receiving part of the church into darkness, for St. Francis Borgia into the SocieÇ", on the rays of light flooding down from the'right, and "St. Ignatius sending St. the wide windows and reflected in the Francis Xavier to the Indies". These lavish gilding on the pilasters, produce episodes serve to celebrate not only a well-lit zone exactly at the crossing. one single detail in the life of the Saint, The function generally attributed to the but also to signify the firm ground up- dome, that is to say, of being a link be- on which the Society of Jesus now tween the nave and the transept, has stood and the pre-eminent position it been transferred to the architectural The great frescoed vault, had assumed in the bosom of the features, to the piers themselves, by Pozzo's masterpiece, is Church since the earliest years of the means of chromatic effects. We are an explosion of faced the realisation an inter- imagination sustained by Counter-Reformation. with of consumale technique and The broad cornice running above change of values, which had been a profound knowledge of the frescoed panels does not interrupt Borromini's chief achievement, the ef- the laws of perspective. lt the decoration of the apse but, on the fect for which he had sought so untir- represents the work of St. lgnatius and the Society contrary, embellishes it, with its hand- ingly. Pozzo who was evidently en- of Jesus in the world. some stuccoes and its rhythm, which trusted with the decoration of the also has the function of linking the up- church as Father Grassi had been en- per zone with the architectonic ele- trusted with the architecture, showed ments below; two symbolical figures, himself to be no timid follower of Ber- placed perpendicular to the columns nini; indeed, since he had become ac- of the high altar, and two angels bear- quainted with the sÇle of painting of ing a medallion with the words Jesus the Venetian school, he was able to )-4 addressed to St. Ignatius in the famous apply the lessons of Bernini through vision at La Stortã, rest upon the cór- the medium of colour. nice. *''t- ,".1 Anything conventional and ac- 'i3 ademic remaining in the scenes paint- {] ed in the sections of the drum has IL¡ completely vanished in the fresco adorning the semi-dome of the apse,

where groups of rejoicing angels dis- {? turb the classical calm of the architecture, almost as they represented the contrast between Christian "divinitas" s and pagan "harmonia"; the crowd in the foreground of the composition 2 forms a kind of amphitheatre, contain- o ing the vivid flashes of light irradiating from the centre. Above, at the crown of the apse, Pozzo depicted the siege of Pamplona where St. Iqnatius, who Beyond the architectural cornice the infinite depth of the heavens opens out, broken here and there by floating clouds, figures of angels and saints. Among these are Sts. Aloysius, Francis Xavier, Stanislaus Kostka and others, who form a corona around the central figures of Christ and St. lgnatius.

e now come to his masterpiece, the have represented with their symbols in huge VAULT frescoed with the tri- the four sections of the vault". Refer- umph of St. Ignatius's life-work. As An- ring to the missionaries of the Society drea Pozzo himself wrote, in a letter to of Jesus he writes: "The first of these the Prince of Liechtenstein, who was indefatigable workers is St. Francis to be his future patron, the idea for this Xavier, the Apostle of the Indies, who mighÇ fresco.came to him from the is seen leading a vast crowd of Eastern Gospel phrase which St. Ignatius converts towards Heaven. The same had made his own: "lgnem veni kind of scene is depicted with other mittere in terram''. Pozzo himself members of the SocieÇ of Jesus in Eu- supplies a precisé explanation of the rope, Africa and America". significance of his fresco: "Jesus illumi- The pious Jesuit is almost carried nes the heart of St. Ignatius with a ray away beyond the facts of history in his of light, which is then transmitted by religious enthusiasm: events isolated in the Saint to the furthermost corners of themselves, even though important, the four quarters of the earth, which I are made to stand as symbols of a universal palingenesis which was to be fulfilled by means of the SocieÇ of Je- sus. We have no desire to give a forced and tendentious interpretation of the real and positive value of the figure of Andrea Pozzo, by attributing to him ideas and theories which he perhaps ignored, but we cannot ex- clude the possibility that the "infinite" in the vault was meant to convey not only his love for theatrical elfecl but also expresses his concrete and visible belief in the universal truth of the Jes- uit Rule, here depicted by means of an "endless" perspective, as it were. In fact, the heavens in the vault o- pen on to what are apparently the depths of infinity, the foreshortened columns tend to render this impression of an uninterrupted "continuum" almost tangible, while the central figure of St. Ignatius, by breaking the ideal centrifugal point where the rays meet in the centre, becomes the focal point round which all the other figures are grouped. In order to appreciate the illusionary eflect of this brilliant play of perspective we have only to compare Andrea ô lilll¡1r 27

... I The abutments of the great Pozzo's fresco with that in the main tì I, . :l vault contain the groups t _. , : hall of Palazzo Barberini, by Pietro da representing the four i, . Cortona (1596-1.669). In Palazzo Bar- ;: l continents which, being ::. " berini we still find the fresco placed .i1,.,,, struck by the faith they .rìt'' receive from St. lgnatius' within a frame, which serves to em- ii .' "Ilt:: heart "Are in the act of ì r'ì ,li phasise the fact that what we are look- i:r t: casting out the deformed ing at is, after all, a painting and that t: .' ';. monsters of idolatry or heresy . or other vices" (Pozzo). the sky is not real: Pietro da Cortona !. Europe as a regal matron i: sits seems to be afraid, as it were, of going ir, .4, upon a writhing mass of too far and is driven to keep within the t:' .' io ..: figures syr¡bolizing heresy ,- defeated by the work of bounds of a safely-established reality; ',,'l .! St. lgnatius. Beyond however he does not desire to go beyond the t,.: the pure rhetoric lies the limits of experiments already made in i ,..! yet - ; fact that Pozzo has not il t a j: is i.". freed himself from the this field. An analogous impression 1,"': i -. .-. ' --.:t impediments of a Caracci-like conveyed by the fresco by Luca Gior- ' 1..: i rendering of the figures. dano (1632-1.7051 painted in Palazzo 28

America is traditionally Medici in Florence. Andrea Pozzo was armed with a lance, not afraid of yielding to his own inex- seminaked with head decorated with coloured haustible imagination: the painted, plumes and sitting on a foreshortened columns are an ideal Jaguar. prolungation of the architecture of the Aided by the angel bringer hin- of fire, she fights the giants church, without any break or personifying idolatry, and drance, while the transition to the symbolizes the success heavenly vault is made gradually and of the missionaries sent facilitated by the slow banking of out by lgnatius to evangelize all over the clouds. Andrea Pozzo was certainly not world. the first to experiment with the "wondrous" (ammirabile dÌletto) in order to create the impression that "What is only apparent is true": as we have already seen, Pietro da Cortona and also Domenichino, in Palazzo Costaguti, 29

The dignified figure of had painted similar "diavolerie" (fiend- Africa, recalling the ish tricks), as Milizia was to call them queens of Ethiopia and find Egypt, is seated on a later, but in Andrea Pozzo we crocodile and has an such a mingling of ingenuousness and elephant's trunk in her technical ability, childlike playfulness hand; to her left, a PartiallY and consummate experience, that we hidden angel with a downturned torch defeats are led to consider his work, not with one of the giants, while the detached air of a critic, but with the other giant is turned profound, affectionate sympathy. upwards. By the time the frescoes in the vault were finally finished, the century was drawing to its close. It had been a century which, after an early period of enforced "austeriþ" had gradually seen the development of a taste for exag- oeratecl nomn. but was characterisecl Asia is represented by a woman seated on a camel, poised to invoke light from on high; at her right two cherubs carry a small brazier with the fire of faith and of the love of God. Below, the theme of the two giants is repeated: they represent idolatry and religious ignorance but also suggest the desire for illumination and liberation.

at the same time by an inner void that Tiepolo with the inspiration and the sought its compensation a purely lesson he leamt before painting his sensual one in what was- "pleasura- magnificent frescoes in Würzburg and ble" and "wondrous".- Andrea Pozzo's Villa Valmarana. fi:j': , I frescoes, t' which express his simplicity lt: and at the same time his profound .i I. tri faith, sum up"all this aspect of the cen- ,i .. t.. tury but at the same time he points out i¡ .' the way to a new form of art: the dra- t.. ,,'i] matic and "illusionistic" quality of his i,,-'.' O: fresco in the vault is imbued with the ;.. feeling of "plein air", which was to be ¡'.. 1 the chief lesson taught by the eight- il r':, t 1ì painting. ;'' eenth century, in the field of 1: ì .,' After Crespi's and Piazzetta's painting, | .-: thaf of Anrlrea Pozzo uraq tn nrnr¡idp Short Bibliography

POZZO A., Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum, Roma, 1693. MUÑOZ A., Roma Barocca, Roma, 1.979. MARIANI V., La cupola di S. Igna- zio nel trattato di Prospettiva di A. Pozzo, in u Roma ,r, l, 1923, pp. 432-34. Lettera del f. A. Pozzo al Prin- cipe di Liechtenstein sul significa- The sacristy. The frescoes to degli affreschi della volta della on the vault and lunetles chiesa di S. Ignazio, Roma, are by the Jesuit Brother 7924. Pierre de Lattre. FABRINI N., La chiesa di S. Ignazio in Roma, Roma, 1952. ln the sacristy: fresco FALDI 1., La scultura barocca lta- representing the in Annunciation, in which 1ia, Milano, 1958. mystery the Word became MONTALTO L., Andrea Pozzo nel- flesh to redeem fallen la chiesa di S. Ignazio al Collegio mankind (symbolized by Romano, in * Studi Romani,, Adam and Eve on the 1958. sides). ïhe fresco recalls and replaces that of LAVAGNINO Ê.., Altari barocchi in Federico Zuccari which Roma, Roma, 1959. adorned'the previous PARSI P., Chiese Romane, Roma, church of the Annunziata, 7960. demolished during the construction of the present CARBONERI N., Andrea Pozzo ar- edifice. chitetto, Trento, 1962. 31 LAVAGNINO E., Il restauro della cupola di S. Ignazio, in n Studi Romani >, anno X, 7962. ARGAN G.C., L'architettura barocca in ltalia, Milano, 1963. PORTOGHESI P., Roma Barocca, Roma, 1967. MARTINETTI G., S. Ignazio, Roma, 1967 (with bibliography). RINALDI 8., La fondazione del Collegio Romano, Coop. Tipogr. Arezzo, 1914. BELTRAME QUATTROCCHI E., /1 palazzo del Collegio Romano e il suo Autore, Ist. Studi Romani, 1956. DE FEO V., Andrea Pozzo, Archi- tettura e illusione, Officina Edi- zioni, Roma 1988.