Chiesa del Sacro Nome di Gesù: Architecture and Decoration
The upper cornice creates a mixtilinear, four-sided convex shape resembling a Greek cross. Pilasters and a mixtilinear cornice adorn this section.
A phased, pyramidal design is employed, matching the concave buttresses that transfer the flashlight’s stress with pilasters, joining at the top.
Towards the flashlight, three straight sides are superimposed with pilasters, enhancing movement and connecting to the buttresses that lead to the temple’s interior columns within the lantern.
The lantern, a shrine, is a common feature in Borromini’s work, continuing the overlapping design seen in the towers’ headlights.
The cornice showcases concave and convex forms, aligning with the concave wall that opens the window and the convex twin columns supporting the entablature.
The lantern evokes the Mesopotamian ziggurat, adorned and designed as a spiral tower.
The globe becomes the focal point, symbolizing the expansion of knowledge, illuminated by candlelight at the tower’s base.
Inside, the layout is simple: two equilateral triangles superimposed upside down, forming a six-point star. This basic design informs the complex interior, where geometric shapes derived from the triangles dictate the architecture.
A circle is created where the triangles intersect, supporting the main construction with pillars.
The interior is small and white, consistent with the family style, featuring simple pilasters with basic capitals.
The verticality is emphasized, and the entablature highlights the interplay of incoming and outgoing lines. The pillars echo the Gothic vault’s nerves, leading to the lantern.
The space between the two pillars is concave, decorated with niches and geometric plates.
Alternating straight, concave, and convex sections create a mixtilinear ledge.
The church retains the rostrum.
The decor reflects the Chigi Pope’s influence, evident in the shields placed in the vault.
Borromini uses a triangle and a circle as the foundation for the entire radial construction.
Decoration of the Chiesa del Sacro Nome di Gesù
Church of the Gesù. Jacopo Vignola, Giovanni Tristano, Giacomo della Porta. Antonio Raggi: Decoration in Stucco. Nave with the pulpit, the rostrum, and linkage with pilasters. Entablature decorated with festoons, which are beginning to appear stucco reliefs. The arches that rest on the arches generate the barrel vault with lunettes. The angels are going to be mixing with the clouds of heaven down to the window, so that the paint exceeds the definition of the framework, which we have seen in Pietro da Cortona, the scenes still limited, and there are no limit but the dome is a painting that fills with the architecture, blending with figures in stucco. The vault holds the entire roof, mixing painting and sculpture. Start by making a frame as if the vault opens, but after opening the hole all spills. In the vault the subject is the worship of the name of Jesus (1674-1679). Gaulli is uniting sculpture, painting and architecture. The figures have a collective existence. Upon entering we have above is the divine light, with the name of Jesus. It is the farthest part of the viewer, the most miraculous. Within the figures there is an accumulation of material: in a circle, the cumulus clouds in the center is the vanishing point.