Sant' Ignazio di Loyola

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Sant' Ignazio di Loyola

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The 17th century church of Sant' Ignazio di Loyola is dedicated to St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the Spanish soldier turned priest, who was the founder of the Order of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. The building of Sant' Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio, to give the church its full name, was partly funded by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi (1595-1632).
 
The church was designed by a group of architects chaired by Orazio Grassi (1583-1654), who was a Jesuit priest, mathematician and astronomer. Work began in 1626, four years after the canonisation (March 12th, 1622) of Ignatius di Loyola by the cardinal's uncle, Pope Gregory XV (r. 1621-23). Both cardinal and pope are interred in the church. 

While the church was opened for public worship in the Holy Year of 1650, it wasn't actually completed until 1685. The facade sports an inscription in honour of Cardinal Ludovisi: S ⋅ IGNATIO ⋅ SOC ⋅ IESV ⋅ FVNDATORI ⋅ LVD ⋅ CARD ⋅ LVDOVISIVS ⋅ S ⋅ R ⋅ E ⋅ VICE ⋅ CANCELLAR ⋅ A ⋅ DOM ⋅ MDCXXVI (To St Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, the year of the Lord, 1626).

Inscription to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi

There is a longer inscription to Cardinal Ludovisi on the counter-facade. It is flanked by stucco statues of Religion and Glory, the work of Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654). The inscription is crowned with the Ludovisi family's coat of arms. A pair of putti seem to be in the act of adding the cardinal's hat! 

Nave

The fresco of The Glory of St Ignatius (c. 1688-94), which fills the entire vault of the nave, is the work of Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709), a painter and mathematician, who was also a Jesuit lay-brother. When viewed from the correct spot, which is marked by a small marble disc in the centre of the pavement, the perspective takes your breath away! 

Apotheosis of St Ignatius by Andrea Pozzo

The two inscriptions, one at each of the vault, read: IGNEM VENI METTERE IN TERRA (I am come to send fire on the earth) and ET QVID VOLO NISI VT ACCENDETVR (And what will I, if it be already kindled?), a verse from The Gospel of St Luke (12:49). Ignem is, of course, a pun on the name Ignatius. 

In addition to depicting the apotheosis of St Ignatius, the fresco also exalts the activity of the Jesuit Order in the four corners of the world with allegories of the four continents then known: Africa, Asia, America and Europe. 

Fake Dome

Pozzo also painted the faux dome. The real dome was never built; the 'dome' we see is simply a painted image on a flat canvas, 17 metres in diameter. The original canvas was destroyed in a fire at the start of the 19th century and was replaced in 1823 by a faithful copy, the work of Francesco Manno, who had access to Pozzo's original cartoons. 

The pendentives were also painted by Pozzo and depict four figures from the Old Testament: Judith, David, Samson and Jael. 

Apse

The paintings in the apse, of scenes from the life of St Ignatius, are also by Pozzo. The fresco in the vault of the half-dome depicts St Ignatius ministering to the plague-stricken. The altarpiece depicts the divine assurance that the saint received in a vision he had in a chapel at La Storta, which lies a short distance to the north of Rome. Above the altarpiece is an inscription: EGO VOBIS ROMAE PROPITIUS ERO (I will be favourable to you in Rome), the words that Christ spoke to St Ignatius in the vision depicted below. 

Chapel of the Annunciation

Pozzo also designed the transept chapels. The two monumental and matching altars are dedicated to St Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-91) and St John Berchmans (1599-1621), two Jesuit students who both died in their early twenties while studying in Rome. 

The altar in the right transept is dedicated to St Aloysius Gonzaga and the marble bas-relief (1698), depicting the apotheosis of the saint, is the work of the French sculptor Pierre Legros the Younger (1666-1719). The two marble angels, which hold lilies in honour of the saint's purity, are by Bernardino Ludovisi (c. 1693-1749). 

The altar in the left transept is dedicated to St John Berchmans. The marble bas-relief of the Annunciation is by the Florentine sculptor Filippo della Valle (1698-1768). The angels are the work of the Roman sculptor Pietro Bracci (1700-73). 

The enormous pairs of Solomonic columns are carved from verde antico, a dark green marble quarried in Greece. 

Lancellotti Chapel

In the Cappella Ludovisi, to the right of the sanctuary, lies the funerary monument of Pope Gregory XV (r. 1621-23) and his nephew, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi (1595-1632). It was designed by the French sculptor Pierre Legros (1666-1719), and created between 1709 and 1719.

Funerary Monument of Pope Gregory XV

Íñigo López de Loyola was canonised by Pope Gregory XV on March 12th 1622, while the building of the church was partly funded by his wealthy cardinal-nephew. The amusing inscription on the monument proclaims: ALTER IGNATIVM ARIS ALTER ARAS IGNATIO (One raised Ignatius to the altar, the other raised an altar to Ignatius).

The two seated female figures represent Religion and Munificence and have been attributed to Pierre-Etienne Monnot (1657-1733). The trumpeting angels representing Fame are also thought to be the work of Monnot. 

The stucco statues in the corners of the chapel, the work of Camillo Rusconi (1658-1728),  depict the four Cardinal Virtues.  ​​​​​

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