| Sant'Ignazio Church | |
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| Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola at theCampus Martius | |
 Façade of Sant'Ignazio | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′56.4″N12°28′47.2″E / 41.899000°N 12.479778°E /41.899000; 12.479778 | |
| Location | Via del Caravita, 8A Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Religious institute | Jesuits |
| Website | santignazio |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church titular church regional church |
| Consecrated | 1722 |
| Relics held | |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Orazio Grassi, S.J. |
| Style | Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 1626-08-02 |
| Completed | 1650 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 90 metres (300 ft) |
| Width | 50 metres (160 ft) |
| Nave width | 25 metres (82 ft) |
| Other dimensions | Façade direction:N |
| Number of domes | 1 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Rome |
TheChurch of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius (Italian:Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio,Latin:Ecclesia Sancti Ignatii a Loyola in Campo Martio) is aLatin Catholictitular church, of deaconry rank, dedicated toIgnatius of Loyola, the founder of theSociety of Jesus, located inRome,Italy. Built inBaroque style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as thechapel of the adjacentRoman College, which moved in 1584 to a new larger building and was renamed thePontifical Gregorian University.[1] It is one of the great 17th century preaching churches built by Counter-Reformation orders in theCentro Storico (the others beingThe Gesù, also of the Jesuits,San Carlo ai Catinari of theBarnabites,Sant'Andrea della Valle of theTheatines, and theChiesa Nuova of theOratorians).
TheCollegio Romano opened very humbly in 1551, with an inscription over the door summing up its simple purpose: "School of Grammar, Humanity, and Christian Doctrine. Free".[2] Plagued by financial problems in the early years,[3] theCollegio Romano had various provisional centres. In 1560, Vittoria della Tolfa,[4]Marchesa della Valle, donated her familyisola, an entirecity block and its existing buildings, to theSociety of Jesus in memory of her late husband the Marchese della Guardia CamilloOrsini, founding theCollegio Romano.[3] She had previously intended to donate it to thePoor Clares for the founding of amonastery.[5] Thenuns had already started to build what had been intended to become the Church of Santa Maria della Nunziata,[6] erected on the spot where theTemple of Isis had stood.[7][1]
Although the Jesuits got the marchesa's land, they did not get any money from her for completing the church. Budgetary constraints compelled them to hire their own architect. Construction of the church was taken over by the Jesuit architect Giovanni Tristano. Built entirely by Jesuit labour, the Church of the Annunciation was first used for worship in 1567. A three-aisled church dedicated to the Most HolyAnnunciation (Italian:Santissima Annunziata) was built by the Collegio Romano between 1562 and 1567 on the foundations of the pre-existing construction. Since the earlier church had already been built to the height of the ground floor in 1555, there was no way for the Jesuits to expand the structure to hold the increasing number of students attending the Collegio Romano. The facade was very similar to that of the contemporary Church ofSant'Andrea al Quirinale, which was also designed by Giovanni Tristano. In accordance with the wishes of the marchesa, the façade proudly displayed theOrsini arms. The Church of the Annunciation was enlarged in 1580 whenPope Gregory XIII expanded the Collegio Romano itself, especially the side chapels.
The old church became insufficient for over 2,000 students of many nations who were attending the College at the beginning of the 17th century.[1]Pope Gregory XV, who was an old pupil of theCollegio Romano, was strongly attached to the church. Following the canonization ofIgnatius of Loyola in 1622, he suggested to his nephew, CardinalLudovico Ludovisi, that a new church dedicated to the founder of the Jesuits should be erected at the college itself. The young cardinal accepted the idea, asked several architects to draw plans, among themCarlo Maderno. Ludovisi finally chose the plans drawn up by the Jesuit mathematician,Orazio Grassi, professor at the Collegio Romano itself.
The foundation stone was laid only on 2 August 1626, four years later, a delay which was caused by the fact that a section of the buildings belonging to the Roman College had to be dismantled. The old church was eventually demolished in 1650 to make way for the massive Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, which was begun in 1626 and finished only at the end of the century. In striking contrast to the Church of the Annunciation, which occupied only a small section of the Collegio Romano, the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola took up a quarter of the entire block when it was completed.
The church was opened for public worship only in 1650, at the occasion of theJubilee of 1650. The final solemn consecration of the church was celebrated only in 1722 by Cardinal Antonfelice Zondadari. The church's entrance now faces on to theRococo Place of San Ignazio was planned by the architectFilippo Raguzzini.[8]
The church has a Latin cross plan with numerous side chapels. The building was inspired by the Jesuitmother church, theChurch of the Gesù in Rome (finished in the late 16th century). The imposing order of Corinthian pilasters that rings the entire interior, the theatrical focus on the high altar at the rear of the broad eastern apse, the church's colored marbles, animated stucco figural relief, richly ornamented altars, extensive gilding, and boldtrompe-l'œil paintings in the "dome" at its crossing and in the nave ceiling all produce a festive, sumptuous effect. Funds to build a dome were lacking, hence a painter to paint the illusion of a dome was hired.[9]
The nave's west wall has a sculptural group depictingMagnificence and Religion (1650) byAlessandro Algardi. Algardi also helped design the high reliefs in stucco that run on both lateral nave walls just above the entries to the chapels and beneath the nave's grandiose entablature.
Other artworks in the church include a huge stucco statue of St. Ignatius byCamillo Rusconi (1728).[8] SaintsAloysius Gonzaga,Robert Bellarmine, andJohn Berchmans are buried in the church.[10] The church is also the resting place ofBartol Kašić.[11]
Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuitlay brother, painted the grandiose fresco that stretches across the ceiling of the nave around 1685.[12] It celebrates the work of Saint Ignatius and the Society of Jesus in the world presenting the saint welcomed into paradise by Christ and the Virgin Mary and surrounded by allegorical representations of all four continents.
By the skilful use of linear perspective, light, and shade, he made the great barrel-vault of the nave of the church into an idealized aula from which is seen the reception of St. Ignatius into the opened heavens.[12] Pozzo worked to open up, even dissolve the actual surface of the nave's barrel vault to make the observer see a huge and lofty cupola (of a sort), open to the bright sky, and filled with upward floating figures. A marble disk set into the middle of the nave floor marks the ideal spot from which observers might fully experience the illusion.
A second marker in the nave floor further east provides the ideal vantage point for thetrompe-l'œil painting on canvas that covers the crossing and depicts a tall, ribbed and coffered dome. The cupola one expects to see here was never built and in its place, in 1685, Andrea Pozzo supplied a painting on canvas with a projection of a cupola. The original painting, completed in 1685, was destroyed by fire; in 1823 it was faithfully reproduced by Francesco Manno on the basis of drawings and studies left by the Pozzo.[8]
Pozzo also frescoed the pendentives in the crossing with Old Testament figures: Judith, David, Samson, and Jaele.[13]
Pozzo also painted the frescoes in the eastern apse depicting the life and apotheosis of St Ignatius.[1] TheSiege of Pamplona in the tall panel on the left commemorates the wounding of Ignatius, which led to the convalescence that transformed his life. The panel over the high altar,Vision of St Ignatius at the Chapel of La Storta, commemorates the vision that gave the saint his divine calling.St Ignatius sendsSt Francis Xavier to India recalls the aggressive Jesuit missionary work in foreign countries, and finally,St Ignatius ReceivingFrancesco Borgia recalls the recruitment of the Spanish noble who would become General of the Company of Jesuits. Pozzo is also responsible for the fresco in the conch depictingSt. Ignatius Healing the Pestilent.
The first chapel on the right has an 18th-century altarpiece showingSaintsStanislaus Kostka andJohn Francis Regis Worshiping the Virgin and Child. The second chapel has an altarpiece depictingSt Joseph and Virgin and a lunette (right wall) depicting theLast Communion of St Luigi Gonzaga, both byFrancesco Trevisani (1656–1746); the cupola was painted byLuigi Garzi. The third chapel has an 18th-century altarpiece ofPresentation of the Virgin in the Temple byStefano Pozzi.
The chapel in the right transept, dedicated to St.Aloysius Gonzaga, has a large marble high-relief depictingSt. Aloysius Gonzaga in Glory[14] (1697–99) by the French sculptorPierre Le Gros. Andrea Pozzo painted the ceiling which also shows theGlory of the Saint. Buried in the side altar next to Gonzaga is CardinalSt. Robert Bellarmine.
The chapel in the left transept houses the relics of St.John Berchmans.
The chapel just to the right of the church's presbytery (at the south-east corner) houses the funerary monuments ofPope Gregory XV and his nephew, CardinalLudovico Ludovisi, the church's founder. Pierre Le Gros designed the monument and executed most of it himself c. 1709–14 with the exception of the two flyingpersonifications ofFame which are byPierre-Étienne Monnot.
The chapel in the left transept has a marble altarpiece of theAnnunciation byFilippo Della Valle, with allegorical figures and angels (1649) byPietro Bracci, and a frescoed ceiling withThe Assumption byPozzo. The second and first chapels to the left have paintings by JesuitPierre de Lattre, who also did thesacristy paintings.[15]
Thecardinal deaconry of Sant Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio was established 28 June 1991. Its cardinals include:
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The Collegio was set back on its feet by Gregory XIII (1573-85), a pope for whom education was a primary concern (...). Gregory reluctantly agreed to be called 'founder' of the college, a title offered in acknowledgment of his generosity, even though he thought it more properly belonged to the Marchesa della Valle. (...)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| External videos | |
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 Pozzo's Glorification of Saint Ignatius,Smarthistory |
Sant'Ignazio, Rome travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related toSant'Ignazio in Rome at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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