A second huge Jesuit church was planned in Rome after Ignatius was canonised. It was not started until 1626 and was paid for by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of pope Gregory XV. Designed by the Jesuit mathematician Orazio Grassi, it now looms ponderously over the rococo square designed by Filipo Raguzzini in 1727.
There is no cupola even though one had been designed by Father Andrea Pozzo. However this same Father compensated for this by painting one of the wonders of the world (or next) : the huge ceiling Entry of St Ignatius into Paradise. It took 15 years. It is trompe l'oeil on steroids. From a marked spot on the floor of the nave, the onlooker gazes through classical columns and arches of a building filled with figures, as the boundary between real and painted architecture blur and merge upward toward a vault, where the Saint is receiving the light of the Word of God from Christ to spread to all four quarters of the world. The figures are turning in rapture to Ignatius for they have been liberated from idolatry due to the missionary work of the Jesuits. There are other Jesuit saints and praying figures populating this heavenly vision. There is also a painted interior of a nonexistent cupola. All this is achieved on a flat ceiling. Unbelievable. Has to be seen again!
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| Exterior by Orazio Grassi |
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| Entry of St Ignatius into Paradise by Pozzo. |
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| Cupola by Pozzo |
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