Kelsey Nicolosi- Patronage & Policy: The Jesuits’ Use of Art in Early Modern Rome

             The Jesuits use of art in early modern Rome helped shape, create, invigorate, and redirect devotion of Christians by constructing a personal experience and relationship with God.  Ignatius of Loyola decided to revive and strengthen the religious experience by introducing his theories surrounding our connection to our devotion, called the Spiritual Exercises.  Ignatius was able to communicate how to utilize the Spiritual Exercises in order to incite vivid, emotional, and intimate images of how person prayer and insight may strengthen our relationship with God, leading to further personal discovery.  The Jesuits were able to concretely manifest the Spiritual Exercises and their policies in art through the work of Renaissance artists and the Patronage of Cardinals and Popes.  The fantastic ability to take the experiences of the spiritual exercises and reflect them back into the sculptures, paintings, frescos, ceiling paintings, architecture, and other priceless works enabled the Jesuits to effectively communicate their policy to the public.  The art and architecture would that was created would be so immensely beautiful, powerful, and astounding that it would help the viewer connect more easily and inspire them in their devotion.  The art was reflective of the spiritual discovery that the Jesuits wanted to communicate to the devotees.  The main goal of Ignatius was to help people and he was able to through the Spiritual Exercises.  The exercises may be altered and reconfigured in order to fit every individual at any level of spirituality, education, or economic status.   

One of the major works that effectively communicated the Jesuit’s policy was the creation of the mother church of the Society of Jesus, the il Gesù.  The church is a great example of the baroque style used during the High Renaissance. Honoring Ignatius’ wishes, the church is placed in the center of Rome.  He wanted to be in the city’s heart in order to be near the people in need, where politics were the most powerful, access to the education of students, close to the artists and patrons, and also to be near to the pope to receive orders.  The creation of the church was funded by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who at the time was the cardinal nephew and grandson of Pope Paul III.  The patronage towards the arts is reflected in the architecture and art within the church. Because Ignatius’ main goal was to help souls, he developed ways to help those in the center of Rome.  This can be seen with the Jesuits social missionaries, such as when they helped the sick, daughters of the prostitutes, educate the poor, and aid dying. 

            The physical interior and exterior of the Gesù is decorated to communicate devotion, power, and intense spirituality.  Construction began with the architect of the Far  The interior of the church contains a ceiling fresco created by Giovanni Battista Gaulli called, Triumph of the Name of Jesus.  The ceiling is phenomenal and has a quadratura, which opens the ceilings.  This creates the illusion that the ceiling is opening infinitely skyward to the heavens.  The intensity of the ceiling does accomplish the goal of inspiring the viewer into a greater and deeper sense of spirituality.  The church has several side chapels, but the greatest one is the one that honors Ignatius Loyola.  The St. Ignatious Chapel is on the left transept and also is contains Loyola’s tomb.  The chapel was designed by Andrea Pozzo and contains illustrations of the Trinity and laced with an immense amount of lapis lazuli.  The chapel holds a bronzed sculpture of Ignatius and a large painting is placed above it. Behind the painting, there is a machine that lowers the painting to reveal a grandeur statue of Ignatius.  The statue of Ignatius is very inspiring to the viewer because it also allows them a physical representation of the man who helped found the path to their spiritual discovery. 

nese family, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and involved he help of Jesuits, Giovanni Tristano and Giovanni de Rosis.

            The Jesuits were extremely vital in revitalizing the way that people practice and reconnect with their faith.  The Jesuits were responsible for running a very large system of schools all around the world, spearheading dangerous missionaries to evangelize, advising the elite on policy, and working against the wave of Protestantism.  They were also essential in adding to the advancement and improvement of the world by contributing to several academic and spiritual fields. 

            Another example of how Jesuits used art to communicate and connect effectively was with the frescos in Santo Stefano al Monte Ceilo.  The church is dedicated to the first martyr, St. Stephen and was commissioned by Pope Leo I.  The frescos were created by Niccolo Circignani and Antonio Tempsta, who were commissioned by Pope Gregory VIII.   The walls of the church are decorated with frescos that depict the martyrdom of approximately thirty-four people. These paintings were vivid, distressing, and honest.  The frescos are instrumental in communicating the how amazing the devotion and relationship with God can be.  While the martyrs suffered and died horrific deaths, it served as a reminder to the viewer of the intensity and unearthly nature of the bond can be.  Being surrounded by frescos of individuals that loved something so much that they devoted their entire being is immensely inspiring. For the Jesuits this church serves as a reminder of the origins of Christianity, as a teaching tool of the boundless nature of spirituality, and as an emotional, spiritual, and intellectual inspiration.  

  

            The Jesuit Saints embodied a type of holiness that illustrated the Jesuit ideals and value system.  Saints like Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis Xavier, Aloysius Gonzaga, Peter Faber, and countless others exemplified that spiritual discovery may occur at any age or level of spirituality.  The emphasis on the Spiritual Exercises helped these men reach a connection with themselves and God that disregarded earthly bondages.  The Jesuits take their experiences and spiritualties and depict them in art in order to inspire and incite a response in the viewer.  The goal of their lives was to teach, move, and remind individuals what to do with their earthly lives, which is to help lost souls and grow in their personal faith.