A noticeable walk from the Trevi Fountain, the Gesù Church is the "mother church" of the Society of Jesus, AKA the Jesuits.


The church was first conceived by the main founder of the order, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and was built from 1568 to 1584. The principal architects were Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Giacomo della Porta, the latter introducing some elements (particularly the façade) which helped to signal the beginning of the Baroque movement.

The interior is laid out as one big nave with side chapels, not including any aisles. The side chapels are all identical in size, except for two opposing chapels near the front which are devoted to St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier. The St. Ignatius chapel actually holds the tomb of the saint, while the St. Francis Xavier chapel displays the right forearm of St. Francis Xavier (most of St. Francis is in Goa, India - he died of a fever in Asia while doing missionary work).


While the construction of the church was finished relatively quickly, the interior was rather plain until the latter part of the 17th Century. At this point, things started to change in an extreme way. Frescoes were painted, and sculptures were sculpted. Other decorative elements were thrown in over the next couple of centuries, and the result is a church whose level of decoration is overwhelming to someone walking in the door. The most striking feature is probably the ceiling fresco of the main vault, which was painted by Giovanni Battista Gaulli (AKA Baciccio) and is called Triumph of the Name of Jesus. It contains a great number of dramatic figures surrounded by a gilded border. Except some of the figures are too overwrought to be contained within the borders, and they spill over them in places, merging with decorations on the walls.


The church has thoughtfully provided an angled mirror, so visitors can examine the fresco at length without putting kinks in their necks. Gaulli also painted the inside of the dome, and a horde of other artists provided other elements. Anyway, here are some of them.







After leaving the Gesù Church, we found a nearby restaurant and had another typically delicious Italian lunch.



Our next planned stop was the Capitoline Museums, located on the Piazza del Campidoglio atop the hill just west of the Forum, and after lunch we headed in that direction.