Sant'Ignazio
Encyclopedia
The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius is Roman Catholic titular church dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola
, the founder of the Jesuit order
, located in Rome
, Italy
. Built in Baroque
style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as Rectory church to the adjacent Collegio Romano
, that moved in 1584 to a new larger building and became the Pontifical Gregorian University
. The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Ignatii de Loyola in Campo Martio is Roberto Tucci
.
and its existing buildings, to the Society of Jesus
in memory of her late husband the Marchese della Guardia Camillo Orsini, founding the Collegio Romano. She had intended to donate it previously to the Order of Poor Ladies
to found a minor nunnery. This order had already started to build what had been intended to become the church of Santa Maria della Nunziata, erected on the spot where the Temple of Isis
had stood in Imperial Rome.
Although the Jesuits got the Marchesa's land, they did not get any money from her for completing the church. Budgetary restraints 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 Most Holy Annunciation was first used for worship in 1567. A three-aisled church dedicated to the Most Holy Annunciation was built in 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 of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
, which was also designed by Giovanni Tristano. In accordance with the wishes of the Marchesa, the façade proudly displayed the Orsini arms. The Church of the Most Holy Annunciation was enlarged in 1580 when Pope Gregory XIII
expanded the Collegio Romano itself, especially the side chapels.
The old church became insufficient for over two thousand students of many nations who were attending the College at the beginning of the 17th century. Pope Gregory XV
, who was an old pupil of the Collegio Romano, was strongly attached to the Church. Following the canonization Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1622, he suggested to his nephew, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, that a new church should be erected to the founder of the Society of Jesus
, at the College itself. The young cardinal accepted the idea, asked several architects to draw plans, among which Carlo Maderno
. Ludovisi finally chose that of the Jesuit mathematician Orazio Grassi
, professor at the Collegio Romano itself.
The foundation stone was laid only on August 2, 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 Saint 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 Most Holy Annunciation, which occupied only a small section of the Collegio Romano, the Church of Saint 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 the Jubilee
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 the Rococo
Place of San Ignazio was planned by the architect Filippo Raguzzini
.
, the Church 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 bold Tromp l’oeil paintings in the "dome" at its crossing and in the nave ceiling all produce a festive, sumptuous effect. The church stages the triumph of its dedicatee most effectively.
The nave's west wall has a sculptural group showing Magnificence and Religion (1650) by Alessandro 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 statue of St. Ignatius, in stucco, by Camillo Rusconi
(1728) and the glass coffin of, and portrait of Cardinal Bellarmino within. (Bellarmino died in 1621).
, a Jesuit brother, painted the grandiose fresco that stretches across the nave ceiling (after 1685). 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. Pozzo worked to open up, even dissolve the actual surface of the nave's barrel vault illusionistically, arranging a perspectival projection to make an 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 the trompe l'oeil 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 perspectival projection of a cupola. Destroyed in 1891, the painting was subsequently replaced. Pozzo also frescoed the pendentives in the crossing decorating each with an Old Testament figure—Judith, David, Samson, and Jaele.
Again by Pozzo, the frescoes in the eastern apse present the life and apotheosis of St. Ignatius. The Siege of Pamplona in the tall panel on the left commemorates the wounding of St. Ignatius, which led to the convalescence that transformed his life. The panel over the high altar with The Vision of St. Ignatius at the Chapel of La Storta commemorates the place where the saint received his divine calling. St. Ignatius sends St. Francis Xavier to India recalls the aggressive Jesuit missionary work in foreign countries, and finally, St. Ignatius Receiving Francesco 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 depicting St. Ignatius Healing the Pestilent.
and John Francis Regis
Worshiping the Virgin and Child. The second chapel has an altarpiece depicting St. Joseph and the Virgin and a lunette (right wall) with The Last Communion of St. Luigi Gonzaga, both by Francesco Trevisani
(1656–1746); the cupola was painted by Luigi Garzi
(1638–1721). The third chapel has an 18th-century altarpiece of The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple by Stefano Pozzi (1699–1768).
The chapel in the right transept, dedicated to St. Aloysius Gonzaga, has a large marble high-relief depicting St. Aloyzius Gonzaga in Glory (1697–99) by the French Pierre Legros
. Andrea Pozzo painted the ceiling which shows the saint in glory. Buried in the side altar next to Gonzaga is St. Robert Bellarmine.
The chapel in the left transept houses the relics of Saint John Berchmans.
The chapel just to the right of the church's presbytery (at the south-east corner) houses the funeral monuments of Pope Gregory XV
and his nephew, Cardinal Ludovisi, the church's founder. Pierre Legros and Pierre-Étienne Monnot
made Gregory XV's monument some sixty years after Gregory's death.
The chapel in the left transept has a marble altarpiece of the Annunciation by Filippo Della Valle
, with allegorical figures and angels (1649) by Pietro Bracci
, and a frescoed ceiling with The Assumption by Andrea Pozzo
. The second and first chapels to the left have paintings by Jesuit Pierre de Lattre, who also did the sacristy
paintings.
Deaconry of Sant Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio was established June 28, 1991. They include:
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
, the founder of the Jesuit order
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, located in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Built in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as Rectory church to the adjacent Collegio Romano
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
, that moved in 1584 to a new larger building and became the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
. The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Ignatii de Loyola in Campo Martio is Roberto Tucci
Roberto Tucci
Roberto Tucci, SJ is a Roman Catholic Cardinal and theologian. He was created Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on 21 February 2001....
.
History
The Collegio 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". Plagued by financial problems in the early years, the Collegio Romano had various provisional centres. In 1560, Vittoria della Tolfa, della Valle, donated her family isola, an entire city blockCity block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
and its existing buildings, to the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
in memory of her late husband the Marchese della Guardia Camillo Orsini, founding the Collegio Romano. She had intended to donate it previously to the Order of Poor Ladies
Order of Poor Ladies
The Poor Clares also known as the Order of Saint Clare, the Order of Poor Ladies, the Poor Clare Sisters, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, and the Second Order of St. Francis, , comprise several orders of nuns in the Catholic Church...
to found a minor nunnery. This order had already started to build what had been intended to become the church of Santa Maria della Nunziata, erected on the spot where the Temple of Isis
Temple of Isis
Several archaeological sites and ancient complexes have included a temple of Isis, an important goddess in Egyptian mythology:*The Greek island of Delos*The Egyptian complex at Philae*The Roman Temple of Isis at Pompeii...
had stood in Imperial Rome.
Although the Jesuits got the Marchesa's land, they did not get any money from her for completing the church. Budgetary restraints 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 Most Holy Annunciation was first used for worship in 1567. A three-aisled church dedicated to the Most Holy Annunciation was built in 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 of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
The Church of Saint Andrew's at the Quirinal is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, built for of the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill....
, which was also designed by Giovanni Tristano. In accordance with the wishes of the Marchesa, the façade proudly displayed the Orsini arms. The Church of the Most Holy Annunciation was enlarged in 1580 when Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
expanded the Collegio Romano itself, especially the side chapels.
The old church became insufficient for over two thousand students of many nations who were attending the College at the beginning of the 17th century. Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...
, who was an old pupil of the Collegio Romano, was strongly attached to the Church. Following the canonization Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1622, he suggested to his nephew, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, that a new church should be erected to the founder of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, at the College itself. The young cardinal accepted the idea, asked several architects to draw plans, among which Carlo Maderno
Carlo Maderno
Carlo Maderno was a Swiss-Italian architect, born in Ticino, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture. His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica and Sant'Andrea della Valle were of key importance in the evolution of the Italian Baroque...
. Ludovisi finally chose that of the Jesuit mathematician Orazio Grassi
Orazio Grassi
Orazio Grassi was an Italian mathematician, astronomer and architect.Canonical pertaining to Society of Jesus, he was one of the authors in controversy with Galileo Galilei on the nature of the comets....
, professor at the Collegio Romano itself.
The foundation stone was laid only on August 2, 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 Saint 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 Most Holy Annunciation, which occupied only a small section of the Collegio Romano, the Church of Saint 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 the Jubilee
Jubilee (Christian)
The concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical Book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly...
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 the Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
Place of San Ignazio was planned by the architect Filippo Raguzzini
Filippo Raguzzini
Filippo Raguzzini was an Italian architect best known for a range of buildings constructed during the reign of Benedict XIII.-Biography:...
.
Interior
The church has a Latin cross plan with numerous side chapels. The building was inspired by the Jesuit mother churchMother Church
In Christianity, the term mother church or Mother Church may have one of the following meanings:# The first mission church in an area, or a pioneer cathedral# A basilica or cathedral# The main chapel of a province of a religious order...
, the Church of the Gesù
Church of the Gesu
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. Officially named , its facade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture ,. The church served as model for innumerable Jesuit...
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 bold Tromp l’oeil paintings in the "dome" at its crossing and in the nave ceiling all produce a festive, sumptuous effect. The church stages the triumph of its dedicatee most effectively.
The nave's west wall has a sculptural group showing Magnificence and Religion (1650) by Alessandro Algardi
Alessandro Algardi
Alessandro Algardi was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome, where for the latter decades of his life, he was the major rival of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.-Early years:...
. 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 statue of St. Ignatius, in stucco, by Camillo Rusconi
Camillo Rusconi
Camillo Rusconi was an Italian sculptor of the late Baroque in Rome. His style displays both features of Baroque and Neoclassicism. He has been described as a Carlo Maratta in marble.-Biography:...
(1728) and the glass coffin of, and portrait of Cardinal Bellarmino within. (Bellarmino died in 1621).
Frescoes of Andrea Pozzo
Andrea PozzoAndrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo was an Italian Jesuit Brother, Baroque painter and architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. He was best known for his grandiose frescoes using illusionistic technique called quadratura, in which architecture and fancy are intermixed...
, a Jesuit brother, painted the grandiose fresco that stretches across the nave ceiling (after 1685). 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. Pozzo worked to open up, even dissolve the actual surface of the nave's barrel vault illusionistically, arranging a perspectival projection to make an 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 the trompe l'oeil 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 perspectival projection of a cupola. Destroyed in 1891, the painting was subsequently replaced. Pozzo also frescoed the pendentives in the crossing decorating each with an Old Testament figure—Judith, David, Samson, and Jaele.
Again by Pozzo, the frescoes in the eastern apse present the life and apotheosis of St. Ignatius. The Siege of Pamplona in the tall panel on the left commemorates the wounding of St. Ignatius, which led to the convalescence that transformed his life. The panel over the high altar with The Vision of St. Ignatius at the Chapel of La Storta commemorates the place where the saint received his divine calling. St. Ignatius sends St. Francis Xavier to India recalls the aggressive Jesuit missionary work in foreign countries, and finally, St. Ignatius Receiving Francesco 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 depicting St. Ignatius Healing the Pestilent.
Side chapels
The first chapel on the right has an 18th-century altarpiece showing Saints Stanislaus KostkaStanislaus Kostka
Stanisław Kostka S.J. was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. In the Catholic Church as Saint Stanislaus Kostka....
and John Francis Regis
John Francis Regis
John Francis Regis, also known as Saint Jean-François Régis, Saint François Régis, and St. Regis, , was a French priest of the Society of Jesus, recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church....
Worshiping the Virgin and Child. The second chapel has an altarpiece depicting St. Joseph and the Virgin and a lunette (right wall) with The Last Communion of St. Luigi Gonzaga, both by Francesco Trevisani
Francesco Trevisani
thumb|250px|Portrait of [[Pietro Ottoboni |Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni]] by Francesco Trevisani. The [[Bowes Museum]], [[Barnard Castle]], [[County Durham]], [[England]]....
(1656–1746); the cupola was painted by Luigi Garzi
Luigi Garzi
Luigi Garzi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Pistoia, and died in Rome, where he was one of the main pupils of Andrea Sacchi. He is also often referred to as Ludovico Garzi. In 1680 Garzi was appointed Regent of the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon, the papal honor...
(1638–1721). The third chapel has an 18th-century altarpiece of The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple by Stefano Pozzi (1699–1768).
The chapel in the right transept, dedicated to St. Aloysius Gonzaga, has a large marble high-relief depicting St. Aloyzius Gonzaga in Glory (1697–99) by the French Pierre Legros
Pierre Le Gros the Younger
Pierre Le Gros was a French sculptor, active almost exclusively in Baroque Rome. Nowadays, his name is commonly written Legros, while he himself always signed as Le Gros; he is frequently referred to either as 'the Younger' or 'Pierre II' to distinguish him from his father, Pierre Le Gros the...
. Andrea Pozzo painted the ceiling which shows the saint in glory. Buried in the side altar next to Gonzaga is St. Robert Bellarmine.
The chapel in the left transept houses the relics of Saint John Berchmans.
The chapel just to the right of the church's presbytery (at the south-east corner) houses the funeral monuments of Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...
and his nephew, Cardinal Ludovisi, the church's founder. Pierre Legros and Pierre-Étienne Monnot
Pierre-Étienne Monnot
Pierre-Étienne Monnot was a French sculptor working mostly in Rome in a late-Baroque idiom.Monnot was born at Orchamps-Vennes, Doubs, Franche-Comté, and brought up at Besançon. Trained at first by his father, he was apprenticed to a sculptor at Dijon, then developed his style during a decade in...
made Gregory XV's monument some sixty years after Gregory's death.
The chapel in the left transept has a marble altarpiece of the Annunciation by Filippo Della Valle
Filippo della Valle
Filippo della Valle was an Italian late-Baroque or early Neoclassic sculptor, active mostly in Rome.-Biography:Della Valle was born in Florence....
, with allegorical figures and angels (1649) by Pietro Bracci
Pietro Bracci
Pietro Bracci was an Italian sculptor working in the Late Baroque manner.-Biography:He was born in Rome and became a student of Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari and Camillo Rusconi...
, and a frescoed ceiling with The Assumption by Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo was an Italian Jesuit Brother, Baroque painter and architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. He was best known for his grandiose frescoes using illusionistic technique called quadratura, in which architecture and fancy are intermixed...
. The second and first chapels to the left have paintings by Jesuit Pierre de Lattre, who also did the sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
paintings.
List of cardinal deacons
The CardinalCardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Deaconry of Sant Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio was established June 28, 1991. They include:
- Paolo DezzaPaolo DezzaPaolo Dezza, S.J. was a Roman Catholic Jesuit cardinal who led the Pontifical Gregorian University during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, whom he aided in the preparation of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary...
, s.j. (28 June 1991 – 17 December 1999) - Vacant (18 December 1999 - 20 February 2001)
- Roberto TucciRoberto TucciRoberto Tucci, SJ is a Roman Catholic Cardinal and theologian. He was created Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on 21 February 2001....
, s.j. (21 February 2001 – present)