IL GESÙ, ROME

(1568-1584)

Il Gesù was the firstCounter-Reformationchurch ever built. Financed by Cardinal AlessandroFarnese, it was to function as the mother church of theJesuit Order. Its architect, Giacomo da Vignola, usedLeon Battista Alberti'sSant'Andreain Mantua (beg. 1470) as his prototype. As in Alberti's structure, Il Gesù is an aisleless, barrel-vaultedchurch with a broadnave, granting an unobstructed view of the altar where the rituals of the mass take place. The façade, which borrows elements from Alberti's façade atSanta Maria Novella, Florence(c. 1456-1470), was completed by Giacomo della Porta, Michelangelo's pupil, in 1575-1584. Here, doubled engaged pilasters define the bays of the lower story and step forward as they move closer to the entrance. The doorway is marked by a triangular and segmentedpediment, as well as the pedimented window of the second story. Scrolls provide a rhythmic transition from the narrower upper level to the lower, an amplification of Alberti's idea in the Santa Maria Novella façade. Il Gesù became the standard for all longitudinal churches built inRomeduring the Counter-Reformation and for Jesuit churches around the world.