ANDREA POZZO

Andrea Pozzo was born in Trento in 1642, died in Vienna in 1709, was an architect and painter.

Already in 1665 he entered the Society of Jesus as a lay member and the Company will be to lead and inspire his artistic production.

Well it was a great scholar and the perspective of his illusionistic effects, the first false dome of St. Ignatius is the most spectacular example.

Like many artists of his time to the success was followed by the need for frequent travel, in order to follow the jobs that were commissioned, which led him in Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria.

He arrived in Rome in 1681 called by the General of the Jesuits Gian Paolo Oliva and in Rome he gave rise to his greatest masterpiece: the ceiling of the nave of the Church of St. Ignatius, memorable work and application of his studies on perspective.

The ceiling of the nave of the Church of St. Ignatius - click to enlarge

In fact on the flat ceiling of Church Pozzo painted architectures that create an illusion of depth to guide the visitor's eye toward the center of the composition where is represented the spirit of two centuries of history of the Jesuits.

At St. Ignatius Andrea Pozzo also frescoed the false dome, the spandrels, the apse, the main altar pieces and the ceiling of the Chapel of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

The ceiling of the Chapel of St. Aloysius Gonzaga - click to enlarge

His style had a decisive influence on the decoration of Catholic churches throughout Europe in the age of the late Baroque.

He drew up the treaty "Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum" in which he dictated the instructions for painting architectural perspectives. The treaty also published in 1800 was translated into Italian, French, German, English and by the will of the Jesuits in Chinese.

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