The Jesuit Tour of Rome

Gesú, the cealing painted by Baciccia

This experience is a walk through Rome’s “Jesuit district,” allowing us to connect with the fascinating history of the Order. It is also an experience in the art of illusion, as we’ll admire Baroque masterpieces created to capture our gaze and make us see a new reality. Get ready, because vaults will seem to move, paintings will appear to break through buildings, curves will look like corners, and flat surfaces will seem rounded and elevated. This is the illusion of anamorphic painting, a technique created by the great master Andrea Pozzo more than three centuries ago. What makes it even more fascinating is that this art was created with a religious purpose, as part of a new method of evangelization—the Jesuit method.

Our visit will explore themes of religion, war, political power, military background, mysteries, and also social justice, ecumenical dialogue, and the significance of spirituality and art as tools for evangelical missions.

We will begin by admiring Andrea Pozzo’s most famous work: the vault and the faux dome inside the Church of St. Ignatius. The effect will be powerful, but to truly understand his skill and the meaning of anamorphosis, we’ll continue by discovering the corridor he painted in the rooms of St. Ignatius.

These rooms are a 5-minute walk from our meeting point, within the House of the Order. Nearby, we’ll enter the Jesuits’ main church: the Gesù. After a brief visit to the church, we’ll end our tour by watching the surprising Machina Barocca show. Above the tomb of Ignatius, surrounded by art and music, we’ll witness the dramatic unveiling of the massive silver statue of the saint, floating straight to Heaven.

Catholic art has never been so captivating…

 

Duration: 2/3 hours

Available every day (except Sundays) at 3.30 PM

Pope Franciscus coat of arms. The sun with IHS in the middle is a Jesuit symbol

Introductive information:

The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu, S.J. and S.I. or SJ, SI) is the largest Roman Catholic religious order of regular clerks . Members are called Jesuits, Soldiers of Christ, and Foot soldiers of the Pope, because of the founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1441-1556), who was a knight before becoming a priest.
They concentrated themselves on three activities. First, they founded schools throughout Europe. Jesuit teachers were rigorously trained in both classical studies and theology. The Jesuits' second mission was, as soldiers of the Pope, to convert non-Christians to Catholicism, so they trained and sent out missionaries. Their third goal was to stop Protestantism from spreading. The zeal of the Jesuits overcame the drift toward Protestantism in Europe.

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© Christiaan Santini