Europe’s Lofty Ceiling Masterpieces

Europe’s Lofty Ceiling Masterpieces
Part of the painted ceiling of the Church of Ignatius of Loyola, Rome, Italy. Diego Delso/CC-BY-SA 4.0
Lorraine Ferrier
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When in Rome, look up to the heavens in the nave of the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola and you’ll be in for a sweet surprise, as the lofty heights of heaven appear as real as you and I.

Yet builders didn’t construct the nave’s dome and vaulted ceiling; lay Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709) created it entirely with paint and mathematical perspective. Pozzo’s painted ceiling is the best example of “quadratura,” an illusionistic and realistic rendering of architecture and sculpture on walls or ceilings.

On the ceiling, Pozzo depicted Christ and the Virgin Mary welcoming St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (known as the Jesuits), to paradise. God sends light to Christ, who emanates rays of light throughout the painting. One ray shines straight to St. Ignatius’s heart. Christ radiates more rays of light to allegories of four continents—Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas—celebrating the Jesuit missionaries’ work there.

Italian painter and lay Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo created the spectacular illusionistic painted ceiling in the nave of Rome's Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Pozzo's composition shows Christ and the Virgin Mary welcoming the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius, into paradise. (<a class="extiw" title="d:Q28147777" href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28147777"><span title="Spanish photographer (1974-)">Diego Delso</span></a>/<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iglesia_de_San_Ignacio_de_Loyola,_Roma,_Italia,_2022-09-15,_DD_27-29_HDR.jpg">CC-BY-SA 4.0</a>)
Italian painter and lay Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo created the spectacular illusionistic painted ceiling in the nave of Rome's Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Pozzo's composition shows Christ and the Virgin Mary welcoming the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius, into paradise. (Diego Delso/CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Several scenes show Ignatius’s life leading up to his apotheosis, a theme that the artist extended throughout the church. Pozzo depicted Old Testament figures such as Judith and Holofernes, David and Goliath, Jael and Sisera, and Samson and the Philistines to further reinforce the Roman Catholic faith in the Counter-Reformation period.

"Illusionistic Architecture for the Vault of St. Ignatius," 1685 or 1690, by Andrea Pozzo. Pen and gray and brown ink with gray wash on two joined sheets of heavy laid paper; 19 3/4 inches by 35 7/8 inches. Gift of Robert M. and Anne T. Bass, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Public Domain)
"Illusionistic Architecture for the Vault of St. Ignatius," 1685 or 1690, by Andrea Pozzo. Pen and gray and brown ink with gray wash on two joined sheets of heavy laid paper; 19 3/4 inches by 35 7/8 inches. Gift of Robert M. and Anne T. Bass, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Public Domain
Pozzo’s illusionistic Baroque masterpiece, along with his authoritative two-volume book on perspective, “Perspectives of Painters and Architects,” influenced ceiling painting for years to come.

A Tradition Aiming for Righteousness

Pozzo’s painting is part of a centuries-old tradition whereby patrons across Europe commissioned artists to decorate prominent buildings with a series of decorative themes that might encourage faith, patriotism, and morality, and also glorify a country’s rulers, royalty, and great historical figures. Artists saw every building surface, including the ceiling, as a canvas to convey these commissions.
"The Apotheosis of Saint Euphemia," circa 1759, by Carlo Innocenzo Carlone. Pen and light brown ink with gray wash over graphite, strengthened with tip of the brush and dark gray wash, squared in red chalk on cream laid paper; 31 7/8 inches by 22 inches. Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Public Domain)
"The Apotheosis of Saint Euphemia," circa 1759, by Carlo Innocenzo Carlone. Pen and light brown ink with gray wash over graphite, strengthened with tip of the brush and dark gray wash, squared in red chalk on cream laid paper; 31 7/8 inches by 22 inches. Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Public Domain

A new exhibition, “Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550–1800,” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington explores the decorative tradition of ceiling painting. Around 30 of the gallery’s drawings are on display, including Andrea Pozzo’s illusionistic architecture for the vault of the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Rome. Together, the drawings show the development of the decorative tradition of ceiling painting: from architectural frames to illusionistic and dramatic scenes of the Baroque, to the geometric and idealized scenes in the neoclassical style.

"Illusionistic Architecture for the Vault of St. Ignatius," 1685 or 1690, by Andrea Pozzo. Pen and gray and brown ink with gray wash on two joined sheets of heavy laid paper; 19 3/4 inches by 35 7/8 inches. Gift of Robert M. and Anne T. Bass, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Public Domain)
"Illusionistic Architecture for the Vault of St. Ignatius," 1685 or 1690, by Andrea Pozzo. Pen and gray and brown ink with gray wash on two joined sheets of heavy laid paper; 19 3/4 inches by 35 7/8 inches. Gift of Robert M. and Anne T. Bass, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Public Domain

The drawings on display also show how the artists prepared these monumental ceiling compositions much like they would any painting on canvas. First they made preliminary sketches, and then developed architectural schemes and sometimes detailed figure studies. For instance, Italian painter Livio Retti’s delicate composition study for his fresco “The Triumph of Virtue and Divine Wisdom” shows the personification of Wisdom at the peak, presiding between the Virtues. Directly below Wisdom, Virtue fights and tramples the Vices. Retti’s finished ceiling painting is in the city hall in a city named Schwäbisch Hall, which is northeast of Stuttgart, in southern Germany. The painting reminds those in the council chamber of their civic duty.

"The Triumph of Virtue and Divine Wisdom," 1736, by Livio Retti. Pen and brown ink with brown wash over graphite on laid paper; 17  1/2 inches by 21 1/4 inches. Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Public Domain)
"The Triumph of Virtue and Divine Wisdom," 1736, by Livio Retti. Pen and brown ink with brown wash over graphite on laid paper; 17  1/2 inches by 21 1/4 inches. Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Public Domain

Italian painter Luigi Garzi’s black chalk study of “St. Catherine of Siena on a Cloud” shows her rapt in a vision of St. Catherine of Alexandria, where she sees the saint with the Christ child. In Garzi’s finished work, which is in the Church of St. Catherine in Formiello in Naples, Italy, St. Catherine of Siena looks adoringly up to the heavens as her vision unfolds above her, all to remind church visitors of their faith.

"Saint Catherine of Siena on a Cloud," circa 1696, by Luigi Garzi. Black chalk heightened with white chalk on blue laid paper; 15 1/4 inches by 10 5/8 inches. Purchased as the Gift of Robert B. Loper and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Public Domain)
"Saint Catherine of Siena on a Cloud," circa 1696, by Luigi Garzi. Black chalk heightened with white chalk on blue laid paper; 15 1/4 inches by 10 5/8 inches. Purchased as the Gift of Robert B. Loper and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Public Domain

Exhibition visitors can also look up to the heavens of the gallery space to see a photograph of Pozzo’s heavenly nave of the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, giving them a glimpse of the stupendous ceiling and this centuries-old tradition.

The exhibition “Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550–1800” runs through July 9, at the National Gallery of Art, in Washington. To find out more visit, NGA.gov
Lorraine Ferrier
Lorraine Ferrier
Author
Lorraine Ferrier writes about fine arts and craftsmanship for The Epoch Times. She focuses on artists and artisans, primarily in North America and Europe, who imbue their works with beauty and traditional values. She's especially interested in giving a voice to the rare and lesser-known arts and crafts, in the hope that we can preserve our traditional art heritage. She lives and writes in a London suburb, in England.
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