Approaching the divine, Il Gesù, Rome

(gentle music)

- [Steven] We've just walked into Il Gesu,

the mother church of the Society of Jesus,

commonly known as the Jesuits.

This order was founded
by Ignatius of Loyola,

a Spanish noble who focused on preaching

and converting the peoples
of the world to Catholicism.

- [Beth] Especially in
Asia and Latin America.

In the late 16th century,

there was a need for a new
kind of church architecture.

The Protestant Reformation had occurred,

Protestants challenging the
authority of the church in Rome,

the Pope, the
Counter-Reformation had begun,

the Catholic Church's
efforts to fight back

against Martin Luther,

and the Jesuits were the
main allies of the Pope

in this response to Martin Luther

and the Protestant Reformation.

- [Steven] And the effort
to reassert the supremacy

of the Catholic Church.

- [Beth] This is the Church Triumphant.

When you walk in here, there's no doubt

that the church has a
sense that it has triumphed

and will triumph over the
challenge of Protestantism.

- [Steven] The focus, as soon
as you walk into the church,

is on the altar

and the performance of the
Eucharist that takes place there.

- [Beth] Transubstantiation,
the changing of the bread

and wine into the body
and blood of Christ.

More masses were performed
during this period.

More preaching took place.

There was an engagement of the laity

that was critical in this
Counter-Reformation period.

- [Steven] And the church is enormous

in order to hold the
great numbers of faithful.

- [Beth] So what makes
this church different

than what came before?

The architects of the High Renaissance

fevered the centrally planned church,

that is, a church that
was based on a circle

or a Greek cross.

That is across with equal arms.

They moved away from the
traditional cruciform shape

of a basilica.

- [Steven] But in sharp contrast,

this church is responding to
the ideas that were set forth

in the Council of Trent

- [Beth] It was at the Council of Trent

that the Catholic Church
determined their response

to Martin Luther and the Protestants.

After the Council of Trent,
we see a new interest

in clarity in art and making
the message very direct.

- [Steven] And this church is designed

to make the miraculous as
accessible as possible.

- [Beth] As soon as you walk in,

you're struck by the breadth of the nave.

We don't have side aisles.

- [Steven] Instead, we have side chapels,

and despite the immensity of the church,

the focus on the altar,

one of the things that Vignola did

was to shorten the church
in back of the crossing,

so that the altar is
pushed forward much more

than in any comparable church of this size

that came previously.

- [Beth] And the transepts
are also shortened.

- [Steven] In fact, the
transepts do not move laterally

past the footprint of the chapels,

so that the church really
does function as a rectangle.

- [Beth] So this focus on the altar,

on holding large numbers of people

who would come to hear sermons,
this is what was important.

So what we have is a
return to the basilica.

- [Steven] So far we've been
talking about this church

in relationship to the
Counter-Reformation,

but this church remains deeply indebted

to Renaissance architecture,

specifically the work of Alberti.

The breadth of the barrel vault

recalls the church of
Saint Andrea in Mantua,

and the facade unites the
first and second stories

with the use of these beautiful scrolls

that are a direct reference
back to Alberti's facade

for Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

This architecture derives
authority from those precedents.

- [Beth] In fact, we see
classical references.

if we look at the nave walls,

where we see pairs of fluted pilasters

with Corinthian capitals
above that, a frieze,

and then finally, a cornice.

The barrel vault, the
dome over the crossing,

these are all elements derived

from ancient Roman architecture.

We could think about the
Pantheon, just a few blocks away.

- [Steven] Or the ancient

Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine.

This is the ancient
vocabulary of the city of Rome

being brought to bear in this new era

when the Jesuits are
celebrating the Catholic church

as the universal church,
as the triumphant church.

- [Beth] Now, the
decoration of the ceiling

dates to about 100 years
after the architecture itself

and was done by the great
Baroque painter Gaulli.

- [Steven] This is one of
the great ceiling paintings

in the city of Rome.

We have at its center the initials IHS.

We see that everywhere in this church.

This monogram symbolizes
the name of Jesus.

- [Beth] Saint Paul wrote that

"in the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow,

of those that are in heaven
on Earth and under the Earth."

- [Steven] And of course, the
name of his church, Il Gesu,

is the name Jesus itself.

- [Beth] So the power of the name of Jesus

to help us achieve salvation.

Now, barrel vaults are heavy things,

but here it opens to the heavens,

where we see the name of
Jesus with a cross on top,

surrounded by golden light,

everywhere we look, angels
alighting on cornices,

seeming to fly through the air.

- [Steven] But then slightly lower down,

We see a number of figures
suspended on clouds,

creating a kind of arc across
the barrel-vaulted ceiling.

These figures are painted
in wonderful foreshortening.

- [Beth] These are the Elect.

So we see them floating
from where we are on Earth,

up toward heaven, up
toward that name of Jesus,

and the illusion is so convincing

because the artist is breaking
the frame of the main area

of the fresco and carrying
the painting around it,

using paintings on wooden panels

that cover the architecture
of the vaulted ceiling

- [Steven] And are slightly
lifted off the ceiling,

creating an even greater
sense of dimensionality.

Now, as if that wasn't enough,
what the artist has done

is to paint shadow on the ceiling itself,

creating this incredibly
convincing illusion

that those figures exist in
three dimensions above us

and are casting shadows on
the actual architecture.

- [Beth] This must have
made you feel, in your body,

a sense of the miraculous.

- [Steven] Now, that's not to say

that people in the 17th century

believed these paintings to be real.

- [Beth] Well, we don't
believe everything we watch

in a movie, but while we're watching it,

we feel as though it's real.

- [Steven] There's one painted group

that we haven't spoken about.

They're largely in shadow.

If the arc were the Elect,
those rising to heaven,

these are the Damned
being cast down into hell.

One of my favorite aspects
of this part of the painting

is the figure holding a book.

He comes out of the ceiling
in such a convincing manner,

but if we were to measure him,

he would be so much larger than life.

- [Beth] And it's using that
technique of foreshortening

to move these figures in and
out of the viewer's space

that makes this so compelling,

and boundaries dissolve in this church,

the boundary between the
earthly and the heavenly.

(gentle music)