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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Collegio Romano e S. Ignazio (Book 9) (Map B2) (Day 1) (View C7) (Rione Pigna)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
S. Ignazio
The Missing Dome
A theatre

The Plate (No. 163)

Collegio Romano e S. Ignazio

The back of Collegio Romano allows Vasi to show the Church of S. Ignazio and the houses that had been built a few years before by Filippo Raguzzini and which form, as Vasi says, a sort of theatre opposite the church. The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Part of Collegio Romano; 2) Oratorio del Caravita; 3) Buildings forming a theatre opposite the church. 1) is shown in another page. The map shows also 4) S. Ignazio.

Small ViewSmall View

Today

The Square today

For once nothing has changed, the buildings especially have been at risk during these last 250 years not being per se a work of art, but they have been preserved.

The Church

The church

The church was built at the expense of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Gregorius XV (buried in the church, coat of arms by Pierre Legros in my background) to celebrate the canonization of St Ignatius de Loyola. The façade was designed in 1650 following the advice of Alessandro Algardi. The interior of the church is famous for its fine ceiling by Andrea Pozzo (a detail of which is shown in the image here below), but it also contains several fine sculptures of the XVIIIth century; among them the relief L' Annunciazione by Filippo Della Valle. The plate by Vasi shows also L'Oratorio del Caravita a building used by the Jesuits for musical and dramatic representations.

Detail of fresco by Andrea Pozzo

The Missing Dome

The missing dome

The initial design of the church included a dome, but when in 1685 the rest of of the church was completed, the Jesuits had no money left for the construction of the dome. At this point a member of the order, Andrea Pozzo, suggested painting the inside of the dome on a canvas laid among the pillars upon which the dome was supposed to be built, to complete at least the interior of the church. His knowledge of perspective laws led to a very successful result and the matter was settled for good. In the main nave a circle of yellow marble indicates the point selected by Pozzo to develop his calculations. Moving away from there, one gradually notices that S. Ignazio has a rather unusual dome. The image on the left shows a model of the dome. Pozzo was requested to paint a similar fake dome in Vienna.

The Theatre

The theatre

The buildings were just private houses and were built (in 1727) for sale, nevertheless nobody challenged Filippo Raguzzini's decision to privilege beauty and to neglect practical needs.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Chiesa di S. Ignazio
Il Card. Lodovico Ludovisi nipote di Gregorio XV. eresse questo vasto tempio l’an. 1626. col disegno del P. Grassi Gesuita, cavato quello del Domenichino, e dell'Algardi, di questo però è disegno il prospetto. E' notabile, che cavandosi i fondamenti verso la chiesa di s. Macuto, fu trovata la statua di Minerva, e fu ancora scoperto parte di un acquedotto, che fu creduto dell'acqua vergine; e perchè era incrostato di marmi, e ornato di colonne, e di statue, si credette, che ivi facesse la principale sua comparsa.
Fu terminata la chiesa l'anno 1685. ed ornata principalmente nella volta, nella tribuna, ed altare maggiore colle pitture a fresco del P. Andrea Pozzi Gesuita, il quale dipinse ancora la cupola finta; ed il P. Pietro Latri similmente Gesuita fece i quadri delle cappelle, fuor che quello della cappella del Patriarca s. Giuseppe dipinto da Francesco Trevisani, insieme con un laterale, essendo l’altro di Giuseppe Chiari, e la cupola di Luigi Garzi; il s. Gioacchino però nella cappella che siegue è di Stefano Pozzi. E' ammirabile poi la crociata di questa chiesa per li due altari eretti egualmente secondo il disegno del suddetto P. Pozzi, ed ornati di preziosi marmi, lapislazzoli, e metalli dorati, specialmente quello , in cui si custodisce il corpo di s. Luigi Gonzaga; essendovi il grande bassorilievo in marmo fatto da Monsù le Gros Francese, e quello d'incontro colla ss. Nunziata di Filippo Valle Fiorentino. Similmente è ammirabile il deposito di Gregorio XV. fatto col disegno del mentovato le Gros, il quale scolpì il ritratto del Card. Ludovisi, le altre sculture però sono di Monsù Monò.
Oratorio di S. Francesco Saverio detto del P. Caravita
Dal P. Pietro Caravita Gesuita fu eretto quell'Oratorio l'anno 1611. per esercitarvi alcune opere spirituali specialmente la parola di Dio ogni sera, e la comunione generale ogni mese. Sonovi nel portico delle Pitture di Lazaro Bardi, e nell'altare maggiore del Cav. Conca.

Next plate in Book 9: S. Apollinare e Collegio Germanico
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Chiesa di S. Macuto
Next step in tour of Rione Pigna: Chiesa di S. Chiara