The First Baroque Church in Rome

Author(s): T. H. Fokker
Source: The Art Bulletin , Sep., 1933, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Sep., 1933), pp. 230-249
Published by: CAA

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME
By T. H. FOKKER

INCE 1541 the Jesuits had officiated in the small church of S. Maria degli
Astalli, adjoining the house in which St. Ignatius de Loyola lived. The
faithful flocked in such numbers to the Company's church that it soon proved
too small to contain them.
In 1550 St. Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia, when on a visit to Rome, offered
St. Ignatius a sum of money for the erection of a more commodious edifice. A plan
for the new building was furnished by Giovanni Nanni di Baccio Bigio, and in the
same year the foundation stone was laid in the presence of Sts. Ignatius and Francis
Borgia. However, before the building was fairly commenced difficulties encountered
in purchasing houses which would have to give place to the new church forced
St. Ignatius to abandon his plan and to content himself with enlarging S. Maria
degli Astalli.
A few years later the idea was revived and Michelangelo undertook to build the
new church. In a letter dated July, 1554, St. Ignatius communicated the great news
to Count de Melito, Viceroy of Aragon. In the same year the foundation stone of
the new church was laid in the presence of the architect. The troubles, however,
were not yet at an end. Early in 1555 fresh dissensions with neighbors arose, and
Paul IV Carafa (1555-1559), an enemy of Spain and of the Jesuits, assumed the
tiara. The treasury of the Order ran out and once more proceedings were stopped.
St. Ignatius de Loyola died in 1556, and pope Paul IV three years later.
In the first year of the pontificate of the Medici pope, Pius IV (1559-1565), Father
Lainez, then General of the Order, had persuaded Cardinal Alessandro Farnese,
nephew of pope Paul III and an ancient protector of the Company, to begin work
upon the new church. But as funds were not forthcoming, the building was not
started at once. In 1562 the great cardinal promised to build the church as soon as
he should be pope. In 1564 Michelangelo died and the proposed edifice lost its
architect. St. Francis Borgia, who succeeded Father Lainez as General in 1565, in
his turn bestirred himself in furthering the great scheme. But again Cardinal Farnese
delayed and still the fathers encountered difficulties in securing what they then
considered to be the necessary site.
It was not until late in 1567 or perhaps early in 1568, that Cardinal Alessandro
Farnese definitely commissioned Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1 507-1573), who had
been his architect for many years, to build the Jesuit church. In I568, for the third
time, the Order proceeded to lay the foundation stone of their principal church in
Rome, and the building was commenced. The walls had been erected to the height
of the entablature, when Vignola died. The building was carried on by the Jesuit
father Giovanni Tristacci, who died in I575. After his death Father Giovanni de
Rosis superintended the work. In 1576 the vault was finished. Giacomo della

230

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 A. . . . . . .

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FIG. I - Ground Plan

FIG. o
2- Gr
Rome, by V4:rnola
Rome, by

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 FiG. 3 -Rome: Interzor of tMe Gesm, by Vgnola and Olt0iers

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 233

Porta (1539-I602), a pupil of Vignola's, who had been employed by

family in Parma, designed one of the two round chapels nearest the a
the Jesuit father as a consulting architect. Finally, in 1584, Cardi
Farnese consecrated the church.
In 1670-83 the stucco decoration of the attic and the vaults, as well as the paintin
on the vaults and in the apse, was undertaken by Giovanni Battista Gaulli (1639-170
On this occasion the older frescoes on the pendentives (shown in the picture of the
jubilee in 1639, which Andrea Sacchi painted in 1641) together with others, und
the dome, the work of Giovanni de' Vecchi, were replaced by the paintings whi
still exist.

In i86o the interior walls of the church were covered with the yellow marble
casing which has been for seventy-five years so striking a feature of the building,
and at the same time other internal modifications in the architecture were introduced,
including the present unattractive high altar.

I. INTERIOR

The church consists of a short nave, a hall in the form of a Greek cross, and a
semicircular apse (Fig. I). The three parts all run smoothly one into the other.
The subtle charm of their hidden complication makes itself delightfully felt, but none
of them dominates, and all, taken together, form a single impressive space.
The walls, on each side of the nave, are pierced by three archways, leading to
three chapels, nearly square in plan. The entrances to the chapels are sufficiently
narrow to separate the chapels entirely from the rectangular and homogeneous space
of the nave. Each chapel is covered with a little oval dome. Low doorways connect
the chapels with one another.
The arms of the Greek-cross-shaped hall are approximately as broad as the nave;
their depth is about half their breadth. The western arm continues the nave. The
four external spaces contain the piers supporting the dome and small chambers, of
which those next to the nave serve as passages to side entrances of the church, and
those adjoining the apse, as chapels. The rectangular doorways connecting the
chambers with the cross-arms are narrower than the semicircular archways that
connect the chapels with the nave.
The apse, sheltering the high altar, is a semicircle, the diameter of which is a little
less than the width of the nave, and of the arms of the Greek cross, a difference just
sufficient to emphasize its individuality!
Technical necessities like that of strengthening the mighty piers which support the
dome, and aesthetic requirements such as the decorous presentation of the high altar,
to which attention has been so directed, modify and soften the austere simplicity of
the plan.
The six commodious side chapels contain altars of fairly large size, which serve the
purpose of the manifold private functions and ceremonies that take place every day.
The two large altars on the side walls of the Greek-cross hall are extremely well
adapted for the impressive commemoration of a great saint or for the august celebration
of an important dogma. They afford more room for sumptuous display than the high

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234 THE ART BULLETIN

altar itself in its apse. Narrow passages lea

near the high altar. No chapels could be be
prayer than these quiet retired places. The r
designed in the doubtful taste of about I860) i
and magnificent late Baroque structures in t
hall. Its dominating effect depends on its p
walls do not shut off a space so firmly as
seems to impress the mind with a sense of a
of removing it, whereas a rounded end wall
variety of altars, adapted to different uses is
Obviously, the main purpose of the design
towards the principal altar. Far from lying
within the church is so framed that attentio
altar niche. Both walls, hardly broken by t
it; an unexpected open space interrupts th
beyond the sudden obstacle at the altar, sa
and a promise of mercy. Such is the exquis
who materialized the behests of the Compan
The real value of the innovations this first B
architecture and the startling novelty of
comparing its plan to that of a church de
architect of the High Renaissance.
Fortunately, a plan in Full Renaissance st
Baroque church under consideration, has b
published a drawing of Bartolommeo de Ro
Michelangelo designed in 1550 for the church
She thinks that the plan served for the Je
building in 1554. She even believes that Vi
for his plan of the actual church.
The ground plan (Fig. 2) shows a church in t
nave and choir, ending in a semicircle, an
entrance wall and the transept four large squ
broken by a doorway, bound the nave at each
defined by a continuation of the walls, which
apse. At the end of each transept two small
while on both sides of each transept a large
of the crossing nave by a short stretch of w
The design of the nave and choir, mainly b
is delicately varied. In the first widely op
addition to the space; in the second half the a
ending. A richer effect has been achieved in
curves and a few broken, straight lines.

i. Mitnchener Jakrbuch der bildenden Kiinste, N. F. IV (

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 235

The rigid, angular nave and choir in this Latin-cross-shaped interior are sy
with respect to the major axis of the building. The apparently fancifu
encompassed in flowing lines, is symmetrical in respect to both axes, and is,
even more regular than the conspicuously regular nave and choir. Th
choir cover a larger surface than the transept, their outlines are less
interrupted. For that loss of material importance the transept makes up b
richness in form and greater interest in outline.
The two constituent parts of the design, exquisitely harmonious in them
intentionally opposed in character and appearance. Yet nave and transep
features in common: the four wall fragments of the transept, interrupted by d
are similar to the two wall fragments of the nave, which are equally inter
doorways, and all six are grouped around the intersection of nave and tran
pilasters decorating nave and transept, in different ways adapted to th
characters of the spaces, are identical. Nave and transept, thus nicely b
slightly connected, form together an interior of perfect repose and august
The differences between the plans of Michelangelo and Vignola are strik
Renaissance master intercrosses two contrasting spaces and composes th
a way as to obtain an enriched and neutral harmony. The Baroque arch
up three congenial spaces into a single severe system, imperiously leading
set purpose.
The even number of chapels on each side of the nave provided for by the older
plan would produce an impression of rest, the uneven number of the Baroque plan
stimulates the sense of movement. In Michelangelo's plan the high altar has not
been given a very definite or a very prominent place. It would be hidden at the end
of the choir, or, more probably, it would be erected in the center of an altar screen,
which would range with the long side of the transept. The two monuments in the
transept, presented to great advantage between the small niches at their sides, would
be more striking than the high altar. The nave has no walls to lead up to the high
altar, for it is only flanked by the chapel pilasters. In Vignola's building no doubt
is left as to the place of the high altar. The arrangement of the entire space is
subordinated to it, and every single feature is planned to bring it into prominence.
Renaissance churches are designed with the intention of producing a space that is
above all things harmonious in itself, which, incidentally, may be used for a religious
building. Baroque churches are planned with the object of obtaining a space that is
adapted, as impressively as possible, to the attraction of the captivated attention
towards one single spot and towards the religious ceremony there enacted.
In the Gesi each archway piercing the walls and leading into the side chapels
is enclosed with two pilasters ending in rich capitals (Figs. 3-5). The comparatively
large space between the top of each arch and the entablature is filled by a short
frieze, decked with heavy garlands; a balustrade and a latticed window, which lights
a gallery over the vaults of the chapels, leads to the main entablature.
The walls round the Greek-cross hall are treated in a slightly different way. The
eight entrances to the spaces between the cross arms are shaped as rectangular
doorways, much lower and narrower than the archways; they are shut in by a pair
of pilasters equal to those near the archways. A frieze, a balustrade and a window,

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236 THE ART BULLETIN

similar to those over the archways, decora

west-east; in the walls of the apparent tran
the open doorways, balconies and open tribu
A first purpose of the treatment of the
the value of the archways and the chapels
of the main walls and the space of nave, h
being much higher than the archways, obvio
relation to them at all comparable to the con
to. The really narrow stretches of unbroke
by the stately pilasters thus flanking them
wall space is divided into three horizontal or
functions; it thereby gains importance at
architect thus deliberately emphasized the im
of the chapels, and the importance of the wa
features which break through it.
A second intention is discreetly and clear
apse. The curved altar apse is, by its very fo
other constituent parts of the church inte
are shorter than one-third of the walls of
archways of the same size as those leading
chapels; moreover, the height of the dome do
piers to be apparently weakened by large
The angles of the cross arms which touch
rich groups of pilasters. Similar but less c
the apse. The groups of pilasters illustrate
the central dome and the apsidal semidom
the open space under the dome, to lead ey
altar. A Renaissance artist, considering first
exactly repeated his motive of clustered p
he wanted it to serve an identical end nea
in the same case, modifies his architectur
important than his ornament.
Over the capitals of the pilasters and all rou
consists of an architrave, a richly decorat
forward in one rapid sweep from the entr
the piers under the dome. At that point i
way as the pilasters underneath. The same cl
square and similar ones at the ends of the
clustered pilasters, and very effectively help
whole interior on the altar apse.
The nave and the extending arms of the Gr
which rise from a high attic. The apse en
Over the square center of the Greek cros
drum, which, in turn, rests, at the intersect
and pendentives. The forms of drum and

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 237
architecture. The dome's perfect semiglobe has the simply lovely form which the
masters of the foregoing period preferred to any other. Probably Father de Rosis
was responsible for that old-fashioned shape. In the round chapel of St. Francis
in this church Della Porta applied the steep dome which appealed to the modern
architects.
For Vignola's use of the vaulted nave few parallels are to be found in earlier
churches and for his use of the dome no precedent at all.
The spanning of the broad spaces by a vault constructed on top of several
horizontal zones produces a singular effect of unity; the space covered by it seems
no longer a negative void, but acquires a positive reality and a novel individuality.
Its effect on the visitor is to attract him unconsciously but irresistibly to the center
of the vault-covered space and thus to the axis of the nave and of the Greek cross,
ending at the foot of the high altar.
This effect was very considerably diminished when Gaulli laid his heavy stucco
ribs over the originally bare vault. The impression produced by these transverse
belts, rising vertically from mighty consoles, opposes the sensation of being carried
swiftly along by the scrolled frieze of the entablature.
During the Middle Ages a dome was used as the normal form of vaulting over
halls of regular polygonal or round plan. It was sometimes used in longitudinal
churches to solve adequately the material problem presented by the intersection
of two long vaults. Those small domes supplying but little light were not conspicuous.
The Renaissance masters brought the construction of the dome over regular
polygonal or round churches to great perfection. No longer satisfied with simple
halls, entirely covered by a dome, they surrounded the central hall, regularly, on all
sides, with subordinate spaces, covered by vaults or domes. In rare cases to the
domed space one single space was added, good care being taken to mark this
secondary space (vestibule or choir) as a separate one, but loosely connected with
the domed. space.
In the Baroque church the dome was put to a different purpose. The space beneath
it is an ampler variation of the preceding vaulted nave, as the apse is meant to be
a narrower variation of the same type. The dome is not used as a casual solution
or as a central dominant, but as an exponent of variation in the composition.
The main architectural features are similar to those used during the Renaissance:
pilasters and entablatures, arches and vaults. Only, the artist used them in a different
way. Modest pilasters and refined entablatures are no longer the means to divide
the wall into panels of exquisite proportions. The clusters of pilasters at the extreme
ends of the walls, combined with the mighty entablature, define the wall as one
impressive surface. Single pilasters strengthen the wall where it is weakened by
an opening and provide it with a richer dignity. Arches are no longer combined
to form arcades and, separated, they do not form the connection between correlated
rooms. They are merely used as entrances to subordinate spaces, whose existence
does not count in the impression made by the main space. They are devoid of
ornament or striking features; they are comparatively low and insignificant if compared
to the surrounding walls. The importance of the vault, on the other hand, was
very much increased. It is no longer meant to replace, as a structure of more

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 238 THE ART BULLETIN

elegant appearance, a flat ceiling, and no longer

wooden coverings. The vaults over the broad
as the wall surfaces; separated from the main wall
directly connected with the low attic only, they
real distance from the pavement did not counte
is a great impressiveness, only to be compared
disciplined space, proper to the interiors of the
and of Diocletian.

The impression of majesty, produced by the system of austere walls and va

is enhanced by the crowning dome. The space under a dome is, by its natur
desolate emptiness. The Renaissance masters filled it with the high altar or
baptismal font, in each case sheltered in an elaborate enclosure; they softened
terrible impression which it produces, by the pleasant decoration of its walls or
the archways surrounding it. Vignola, on the contrary, leaves it to exercise its f
effect and counts on the contrast between its well-nigh insufferable oppression
the generous consolation of the high altar beyond it to enhance the significance
his combined spaces.
The elevation of the interior accentuates and supports the aims expressed in
plan. The three main spaces are treated so as to seem a single one at first sig
but they are subtly differentiated and, on inspection, they appear to be effectiv
contrasted. The conspicuous entablature, which rushes forward, stops abruptly a
ornamented angle, resumes its lead beyond an open space at an opposite, bu
similarly ornamented, point, and is emphasized by other ornaments at the begin
of the apse, in which it finally comes to rest. The solemn nave, on being ent
exercises a firm ascendency; the large space under the dome attracts until
reached and then leaves no refuge but the resplendent altar and its inviting
The illumination of the church is as subtly conceived and as carefully planned
are the ground plan and the elevation.
The nave and the arms of the hall are lighted by windows cut through the vau
The walls of the two cross arms and the entrance wall are pierced by larger wind
at the same height from the floor as the windows in the vault. This set of wind
serves the main lighting of the church.
Four windows in the drum of the dome, eight round windows in the dome its
and a lantern on top of it flood the hall beneath with a strong and high ligh
Two small windows in the wall of the apse, under the entablature, and two
windows in the attic between the entablature and the semidome of the apse
a moderate light to fall upon the altar.
The six side chapels are lighted by semicircular windows in the top of their b
walls. These windows are situated in a comparatively low position; their light can
well penetrate into the nave. Dimly lighted, the chapels look dark near the
lighted nave. Their obscurity makes them even less conspicuous than the treatm
of the surrounding walls and the double pilasters leave them. The two passages n
to the square chapels are dark; the two round chapels next to the high altar, cor
ponding to the passages, obtain light from lanterns in their own small domes. T
round chapels and their sparse light are not even perceptible in the church itself.

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FIG. 4--Rome, Convent of the GesZ": Represenlation of the Interior of the Gesu
during the Jubilee of the Company of Jesus zn 1639, painted by
FiliPpo Gagliardi and Andrea Sacchi in z64.

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 241

The three main spaces of the interior thus each have their partic
and the three several illuminations blend into one single system. The
in the nave is ample and unemotional. The contrast between the sem
of the chapels, filled with dim altars and indistinct paintings, and
clearness of the nave adds to the impression of its space as a well d
entity. The vertical Greek-cross hall under the dome is flooded with a
light, streaming down from the drum and the dome, adding to the b
windows in walls and vaults admit. In the center of the highest an
in the building the abundant light which Vignola was the first to draw
proves a most important feature in creating the impression which th
is determined to produce. It apparently increases the dimensions o
its splendor the feeling of isolation in forbidding solitude, which the
inspires, is intensified. Beyond that abyss the grave light from the sm
and the mildness reflected on the altar from the curving walls of the
apse, lie quietly waiting, serenely inviting.
Plan, elevation, and illumination of the Gesi thus all tend to pro
impression. A succession of subtly assembled different spaces, and
vastness, both accentuated by a most exquisite use of all the resour
cooperate in an irresistible concentration on one definite spot, the
the space is finally enclosed, and where the high altar reigns.

II. FACADE

The faqade of the Gesci was the first Baroque church front to b
became the prototype for many others, but its design had a prede
unfortunately, never was realized.
In 1569 Vignola, architect of the church, which was then being buil
Alessi (1512-1572) were invited to submit designs for the faqade.
other competitors are not known. Vignola's design may have been acce
eventually, it was not executed. In I573, the year of the master's
engraved by Mario Cartaro and published; the print shows the de
date 1570 on the entablature (Fig. 7).
The actual faqade (Fig. 6) was very probably built by Father Giov
certainly assisted by Vignola's pupil Giacomo della Porta (1539-
architect of some repute. On the entablature its date is stated as b
meaning of that date is uncertain. The building of the fagade was
in that year, or the fagade may have reached the entablature in 15
which Father Giovanni Tristacci died and Father de Rosis succeeded him in the
charge of principal architect. There is no doubt that the fagade was not fin
until I584.
In 1617 the name of de Rosis had been forgotten; in that year Francesco Villamena
published an engraving after the existing fagade in his Alcune opere d'arckitettura di
Vignola, erroneously stating that Giacomo della Porta was the architect.
As Vignola's design had been published in print, probably two years before work
on the fagade was actually started and several years before any other architect built

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 242 THE ART BULLETIN

any other Baroque church faqade, as it was d

and as it is by far the finest Baroque chu
discussing. In this case, as in the case of the
of a Late Renaissance faqade to the nearly c
best show Vignola's innovation.
In 1536 St. Ignatius acquired a building pl
in which he was living at the time. On the
of prostitutes and other girls, living in surr
morals. When Federico Cesi (1500-1565), b
in 1544, he was persuaded by the founder of
church of S. Caterina de'Funari, belonging to
built the church, which was consecrated in 15
was designed.
Guidetti's faqade (Fig. 8),is flat. The wall
which divide it, in another single plane. The
stretches straight over the three central se
to the extent of the top story and four pilas
two outer sections of the faqade, and resum
the plane of the central part. Thus, the widt
and the differences between the nave of th
the true upper story of the building and the or
The door, which occupies the central compar
modest, though elegant, frame of fluted col
small pediment. Door and setting are well
parts of the faqade and do not in the least
of the wall fragments enclosed between the
in each of them is perfectly balanced.
In the upper story the same kind of disp
tablets, such as are to be seen in the lower
of cartouches connects the capitals of the pil
of garlands and wheels connects the capita
square frame, surmounted by rather ornate s
in perfect harmony with the exquisite surrou
The pediment, within its tranquil unbroken
structure.

This Renaissance fagade is purely balanced. A strict coordination

throughout. No single structural or ornamental feature interferes with any
other ones or pretends to assume a function it was not originally meant
two stories and the pediment are absolutely separated. The broad central
the building is clearly differentiated and the narrow wings give the gracefu
a certain lightness, unknown to the perfect style of the High Renaissanc
tendency to any concentration or heaviness is indicated in a wall which
impassive stability.
Like Guidetti's facade for S. Caterina, Vignola's facade for the Gesi is
into five parts. The central part in Guidetti's design is wider than the four

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FIG. 7-Rome, Corsini Print Room: Engraving by Mario Cartaro after

Vignola's Original Drazewing for the Facade of the Geszu

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FIG. 8-Rome." S. Calterina de' Funari, by Guidelto Guidetii FIG. 9- Rome: S. Maria ai zM

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 245

in Vignola's the five parts are almost exactly equal. The lower centr
S. Caterina fagade is flanked by a pair of pilasters, like the other sectio
central section is set between a pair of three-quarter round column
beyond the planes of the neighboring parts and of the pilasters ador
the earlier fagade the front door is treated as an independent feature, in
the door and its surrounding are but a subordinated part of the very im
section of the fagade's ground floor. Whereas in Guidetti's fagade the di
lie in one single plane, the three central parts of the Gesci faqade, take
project beyond the outer parts, and this breaking of the fagade into di
is repeated in the rich entablature on top of the two columns: a centra
entablature sticks out again; the broken entablature thus lies in five pl
In the Gesci the part which in S. Caterina forms a low plinth for the
has been developed into a mezzanine, whose five sections lie in three dif
like the lower part of the faqade. The upper story itself repeats between
outer wings, the division of the lower one. The central part is, moreover
from the two outer parts by its pair of projecting round columns. The
of S. Caterina's upper story is filled by a round window, set in a s
a well balanced, unemotional ornament; the corresponding part of t
rectangular window in a rich and bold frame. The entablature on top o
story of S. Caterina and the outlines of the pediment, which crowns th
pure and sound, but in the Gesut these elements are broken, and repea
the projecting central part of the fagade.
In the fagade of S. Caterina the third dimension is sparingly used
accidental; in the fagade of the Gesci it is an essential feature. The
artist expresses himself in proportion, Baroque Vignola in different
The gradual concentration of Vignola's fagade is carried through
part, consisting of five sections, in the higher part, made up of three
and two rudimentary ones, and even in the broad final pediment, w
broken to this purpose. An ornament, suggesting the shape of a bro
in the design of which, however, the classical outlines have been carefu
bearing the arms of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, rests on top of t
entablature that belongs to the lowest central section; it hides the c
the mezzanine. A simpler semilunar ornament, bearing the arms o
Company, takes the central section of the final pediment. The cent
the fagade's lower story rises up into the mezzanine (built in the form
and, in harmony with the entablature of the second story, whose c
carried outward on top of the two columns, the pediment which crown
building, has its central part slightly projecting beyond the side parts.
dicular linking together of the central parts of the different stories, b
rigorously separated lateral sections, powerfully adds to the concent
different masses on the section which surrounds the main entrance of
Another device served to increase the effect, which the architect had obtained
by the grouping of his masses. An additional pilaster divided each of the spaces
between the pilasters, which limit four eccentric parts of the ground floor and two
corresponding parts of the upper story, in two subsections each, a larger one, nearer

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 246 THE ART BULLETIN

the center of'the faqade, a narrower one,

flank the larger subsections on the side ne
pilaster (or column), which partly covers i
the architect accentuates his divisions by sco
by filling the smaller ones with slender stan
seated figures or (next to the central secti
The halving of the pilasters adds importan
the smaller niches are compressed by the cou
The central parts of the faqade are by far the
divided into a heavier and a lighter subsectio
The section with the principal door, in its
It penetrates into the next zone of the fag
which ends it, and it pushes its powerful thr
of the neighboring sober pilasters. In this w
to the important mass of the wall in which this
are hollowed out.
The door itself is surrounded by angular pilasters, by richly ornamental hermae
caryatids and grotesques, by scroll-work and vases, as a door might be, which, in an
anteroom, announces a sumptuous palace hall. The resemblance of the unfamiliar
ornaments which Vignola applied to his main entrance, with the architectural detail
designed by Hans Vredeman de Vries, and published in Antwerp a few years before
this faqade was drawn, is rather remarkable. The door is deeply retired in the
shadow of the porch, formed by the projecting columns and the projecting entablature
Having used many and wonderful devices to attract attention to the central feature
of his building, the architect hides it with a supremely artful modesty.
In the upper story light wings, whose elegant outlines connect the upper entablatur
with the top of the mezzanine, exquisitely finish a design which, unfortunately, wa
never executed. A swarm of graceful statues, whose frail forms continue the straight
lines of the pilasters and columns and blunt the top of the crowning pediment,
astonishes as a strange archaism.
The actual faqade of the Gesi shows, in its lower zone, traces of the influence
which Vignola's design exercised on the architect, and, in the upper part, the influenc
of Della Porta's indications.

The Father architect followed the tradition and divided his faqade perpendicu
into two floors and a pediment, horizontally into several sections. He adop
Vignola's scheme of breaking up the flat church fagade and of making the s
parts retreat on both sides. He partly adopted Vignola's subdivision of the s
parts of the fagade into wider and narrower subsections.
The main section of the fagade is divided into four very narrow subsectio
equal size, flanked by two pilasters or by a pilaster and a partly engaged col
into two very wide subsections which contain each a side door, and a still w
subsection between the two columns which enclose the principal entrance
two outer sections are each divided by two pilasters and a half one into a na
and a wide subsection. The size of the narrow subsections of the outer par
equal to that of the narrow subsections in the main part of the fagade; the size

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 247

the wide subsections of those outer parts is smaller than that of the co
subsections in the other part. The columns do not partly overlap a
and the motif of the halved pilaster is not repeated in the main section
case in Vignola's design. The principal entrance is not intimately conne
projecting columns which flank it, as was the case in the facade of Vig
in the same plane as the two sidedoors.
Pilasters and columns are all elevated on high pedestals. The entablatu
Over the outer sections it follows entirely the plane of the capitals. Ov
central subsections it follows partly the plane of the capitals of the pil
that of the capitals of the columns. Over the wider subsections near
follows the plane of the wall and over the neighboring narrow subsecti
of the capitals. On both sides of the columns a ridge continues the
supports the curved pediment over the principal door, and cuts th
comprised between the zone of the pedestals and the zone of the cap
equal parts. Over the principal door an immense cartouche contain
the Society; over each of the side doors a rectangular niche, surro
elaborate frame and covered by a curved pediment, fills the upper half
panel. Cartouche and pediments enter into the zone of the capitals.
of the pilasters which are nearest the principal entrance a curved pedim
constructed, and its field is partly filled by a triangular pediment erec
the two columns, which flank that door.
The second story presents a simplified repetition of the central section
with modified wings in the form of volutes.
Vignola had introduced into the church faqade a mezzanine or pse
successor could not well do without a similar feature to form an app
ground for his double pediment and to prevent it from interfering with his
At the same time, objecting to the introduction of this novelty, he
pedestals for the pilasters and columns of his ground floor, in order to
motif in the upper one and thereby to substitute for Vignola's pseudo-at
but unusually high plinth. Between the pedestals belonging to the two
of pilasters, a common pedestal for the columns and balustrade which for
frame sticks out.
The surface of the upper story wall forms one plane and the surface of the pilasters
and the ridges of the volutes one other. The grouping of masses which Vignola had
proposed has completely disappeared. By joining the pedestals of his four couples
of pilasters, by treating the entablature in much the same way as the entablature of
the central section below, the architect obtains a faint division of this part of the
facade. The central window and its setting occupy the entire subsection between the
central sets of pilasters from the top of their pedestals up to the bottom of their
entablature. The columns which belong to the setting of this window stand on pedestals
of their own; a balustrade fills the space between the pedestals. The other wide
subsections are filled with niches and rectangular panels. In this zone the architect
prolonged the top of the balustrade in front of the central window, in the same way
as he prolonged the cornice over his central door below. He extended the plinth and
the lower part of the wall up to the ridge over the entire width of the fagade to carry
the slowest flowing volutes ever designed in Rome.

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 248 THE ART BULLETIN

In this upper.zone of the faqade Della Porta's

to I58o, that is to say during part of the time
architect built, at the expense of Cardinal Gu
small church of S. Maria ai Monti (Fig. 9). It
between the facades of Vignola and Gudetti,
master and the old tradition. The window, with
volutes and their pedestals, as well as minor fea
been borrowed from the smaller church.
Finally, in the crowning pediment of the Gesai a central panel, corresponding to
the three central subsections in the first and second zones, has been detached and
ornamented with a square window and the arms of Cardinal Farnese.
The facade of the Gesc is less coherent than Vignola's, besides being less varied and
less vivid. From an artistic point of view it is extremely inferior to the faqade designed
by Vignola for the same church and to the front which Della Porta built for S. Maria
ai Monti. Yet it reflects better the Baroque spirit than does the work of Della Porta,
who, in his facade, hesitates between Renaissance tradition and Baroque innovation,
and it is more bluntly characteristic than the refined design of the eminent Vignola.
In the lower zone of the GesiL faqade the narrow subsections are so cramped that
the effect produced by them is not so much an effect of stretches of wall flanked by
pilasters as one of loosely coupled pilasters. In the upper zone the impression of
coupled pilasters is strengthened by the fact that the pilasters stand in couples on a
common pedestal and that two couples out of four share a bit of broken entablature.
That gathering of the pilasters completely changes the values of the structure. The
narrower subsections (that is, the coupled pilasters) appear more important than the
broader subsections (that is, the stretches of wall). The impression of differentiated
masses, which crowd towards the center, produced by the faqade of Vignola, is
replaced by an impression of six sturdy masses in the lower zone, and of four solid
props, flanked by two immensely heavy buttresses, in the upper zone, which all weigh
down on the soil. The wings were the lightest parts in Vignola's design; the flanks
are scarcely less massive than the rest of the front as it now stands.
The architect evidently desired to produce an effect of concentration on the prin-
cipal door, similar to the one obtained by Vignola and, indeed, indispensable in an
architecture which uses sheer mass as an artistic means. To that purpose he replaced
the two pilasters next to that door by columns, somewhat similar to those which Vignola
had used. Unfortunately, the broad effect of the coupled pilasters was lost and the
combined architectural features which mutually harm one another's effect, proved less
impressive than the simply doubled ones. The reason for introducing niches over the
side doors is not clear. The consequence of their filling those places was twofold: they
apparently weakened the solitary pilasters at their sides and they compelled the
architect to a greater effort and an application of more striking constructions in the
central compartment than he would have needed if those parts of the wall had been
left blank.
The next step was to introduce a huge escutcheon over the principal door and a
pediment over the columns. A single pediment over the columns and the pilasters
was notvery practicable on account of the different forms and sizes of the capitals.

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 THE FIRST BAROQUE CHURCH IN ROME 249

To the obvious solution of erecting double, partly engaged columns

columns and pilasters, the odd and clumsy one of double pediments,
the other, was preferred. The aesthetic effect of the pediments is not
heavier-looking curved one rests on the apparently weaker supports, and
lighter pediment on the robuster columns.
Vignola had shown how the horizontal concentration on the princi
be increased by adding a perpendicular effect. The Jesuit father followe
and isolated, throughout the fagade, the three central subsections b
entablatures *recede on both sides of those subsections and by breaking
the final pediment, to push back the two side parts. The measure is les
this case than in Vignola's. The central strip is too wide and it does
the very individual, very striking window.
By that elaborate apparatus the architect succeded in securing for the
subsections of his ground floor a feeble ascendancy over their surroun
course of the nineteenth century statues of Sts. Ignatius and Francis X
up in the ornamental niches over the side doors. That added richness of t
subsections sadly endangers the supremacy of the center of the faq
architect had intended. Nowadays even the superhuman dimensions of
unwieldiness of the escutcheon and the exaggeration of the double pedi
balance the neighboring wider sections and cannot focus the interest o
faqade on the principal entrance.
One of the features borrowed from Della Porta is the motif of the vol
replace, in the upper zone of the faqade, the outer wings. In Vignola's
Gesii and in the faqade of S. Maria ai Monti, the halved pilaster which
part of the faqade accompanies the pilaster of the neighboring section ha
in the upper part. To the capital of that halved pilaster another capital, f
has been attached, and the curve sweeps down from the capital. In t
igned by Father de Rosis the absence of a similar refinement migh
The design of the volutes suggests a slowly rolling mass; it expresses p
the resistance to the sidelong pressure of a heavy vault; the form is ad
for a buttress. The volutes which appear in the faqade of S. Maria ai
different purpose, but at least they have the excuse of reproducing the butt
flank the vault of that church. The volutes of the Gesa, much less grace
of S. Maria ai Monti, do not actually serve as counterpoise for a vau
continue a series of real buttresses. They are so conspicuous a feat
dominate the entire fagade, and so effective that they render more than an
or part of the building the purpose of the architect to inspire feelin
respect by sheer force and momentous quantity.
As in the interior of this church space itself is turned into a medium f
in the facade volume is made eloquent. To the artists of former gen
and volume had been neutral and inanimated, unimportant though neces
for those who wanted to express themselves in line and color, in form an
All of a sudden, in the hands of the new men, space and volume ha
all-important elements. The change is fundamental; a new style has
new possibility of developments has been opened. This church interior a
start a new period in the history of Italian architecture.

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