Chiesa del Ss.mo Nome di Gesù all'Argentina
Mother church of the Jesuit order, with a Baroque ceiling where heaven and nave seem to dissolve.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Chiesa del Gesù's ceiling in Rome centers on Giovanni Battista Gaulli, known as Baciccia, a young Genoese painter with no obvious claim to one of the grandest commissions in the city. It traces how the Jesuit General Gian Paolo Oliva turned to Gian Lorenzo Bernini to choose an artist, and how Baciccia spent nearly a decade breaking the rules of a framed ceiling painting with his collaborator Antonio Raggi. Look up as you enter and let your neck follow the gilded frame outward.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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