What’s Up? The Jesuits and Ceiling Painting in Early Modern Rome

Il Gesu and

Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power

The most intense and overwhelming experience I have had with art of any kind during the program was the moment I walked into the Gesu for the first time and saw the incredible art and architecture in the extended ceiling vault. The mixture of stucco, fresco, architecture and sculpture work together to create the fluid, Baroque scene.

The scene depicts the Triumph of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, wherein the blessed and the angels kneel on the side as the light of heaven shines upon them and they ascend into the heavens, while the damned tumble out of that heavenly grace in the bottom portion of the scene. The illusionism that Baciccio expertly displays is done so by raised portions of the frescoes and stained gold on the walls that cast false shadows. The scene moves fluidly from ceiling fresco to raised canvas to sculpture, bringing the figures down to our earthly level and bombarding the viewer with this toppling, kinetic effect.

Both ceilings utilize the illusionism of the Baroque era. The Cortona ceiling depicts this by utilizing the vaulted ceiling and painting columns and statues in each of the corners using forced perspective to make it seem as if the ceiling does not end, but rather opens up in as similar way to the Gesu ceiling. Baciccio’s ceiling, however, combines mediums to creates this illusion of depth, but rather than moving up entirely toward the sky, the illusion is that of falling to our plane, when the figures are in fact still fixed to the ceiling.

The two ceilings are examples of the quadratura, or the technique of creating a illusionistic space--- typically heaven or an endless sky--- by extending concrete architecture in the space into the painting in a way that makes the ceiling appear to open and continue upward. Another famous example of this is the San Ignazio ceiling which we also were able to visit during our program. This forced perspective makes it appear as if the ceiling does not enclose the audience, but rather puts the viewer at the edge of their own reality and close enough to heaven that it is as if it is almost tangible.

Like many churches whose interior design and decoration was done in this period, the Gesu ceiling acts as a window--- a hallmark of Renaissance painting.The Gesu is also a unique example of the Renaissance ceiling painting style, the quadro riportato. This concept came after the quadratura and translates to “carried picture” meaning the ceiling is framed in such a way that it looks like an easel painting has been transferred to that position above the nave. The painting at il Gesu has the gold framework and base layer of a traditional quadro riportato ceiling, but with the dimension and illusion of a quadratura as well as a third layer that is moving towards the viewer, making it an example of sotto in su, which literally means “below upwards.” It is used to highlight the direction of movement from earth to heaven, especially as the figures on either side transcend into a heavenly realm.

An aspect of Baroque style that both ceiling paintings display is tenebrism. Not in the way that Caravaggio famously employed the technique, but in a way so as bring attention to the central images of the ceilings and create a lit from within effect, or illumination from some central source. In both of these that light is coming from the source of heaven and brought to the seen by the central figure--- in the Gesu this is the name of Christ, and in The Allegory of Divine Providence it is the woman symbolizing Divine Providence.

The Church’s decoration and format in and of itself was an embodiment of the Council of Trent and the Catholic Reformation. The Council of Trent took place during the height of the Renaissance in the mid 16th century. Art was in midst of a major movement as was the Church. The design of the church drew attention to the altar, was illuminated in all corners and displayed very obviously what were the orthodox teachings of the Catholic Church, utilizing art and illustration to better understand those teachings, simplifying their content and dressing the figures more conservatively. With regard to the Jesuits, aside from their cultural policy, the Gesu and its artwork lended itself to the meditations or spiritual exercises they taught, allowing the viewer to better visualize these scenes of redemption or condemnation.

Baciccio was known for his portraiture, but found the execution of this quadri storiati, or painting that tells a story, significantly more perplexing. This meant taking many figures and giving each one a role in the story that was to be told in a single snapshot, giving the figures a sense of dynamism and emotion in this large, but nevertheless restricted space.

We see in both of these images how the quadri storiati plays into the Baroque style of movement. Both ceilings have a vector point that draws the viewer’s immediate attention, then from which the artists crafted scenes which can be overwhelming to view as a whole, but are meant to be broken down into pieces, each scene leading into the next. Cortona’s fresco appears to have a much more convoluted plot, with several vignettes that disconnect with others contextually, but stylistically flow into one another.

The painting in the salone of the Palazzo Barberini is one also of status and of the Baroque style.

Urban VIII’s legacy included the production and reinvestment in art and architecture across the city. Caput Mundi, or the concept of Rome as the capital of the world, lead the decisions of the leaders, choosing for Rome to not only be the religious and political capital, but also the artistic capital of the world. The theatrical nature of the Baroque period lended itself to this idea. The grander the structure, the more intricate the design, the more complex the poses, and the golder the walls, the more dominance Rome was able to assert over its competitors. This ceiling fresco at the Palazzo Barberini epitomizes this idea as we see the immortalization of this patronage in the swarms of bees throughout the fresco.

In a modern context, the salone at Palazzo Barberini (at least at the time of our visit) recapitulates its original Baroque sensibilities. The salone featured a live performance of classical music that captured the air of an active 17th century hall. As I tried to take in the scenes above, the music acted as a score, moving the figures across the ceiling and emphasizing the grandiose, theatrical aspects of the Baroque. The point then and today was not for these ceiling frescoes to be images to simply glance at or view in a few moments, but rather to experience the scenes and draw emotion from them. This experience is not lost centuries later, just highlighting the genius and importance of this era in art history and those who created it.