Sant'Ignazio di Loyola

The "dome" in this church is a masterpiece of trompe-l'oeil

Sant'Ignazio di Loyola
Piazza S. Ignazio
tel. +39-06-679-4406
Open daily 7:30am–12:20pm and 3–7:20pm

A Viator.com tour
• Baroque Rome Small Group Day Tour

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Andrea Pozzo's trompe-l'oeil dome in Rome's church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola.
Andrea Pozzo's trompe-l'oeil dome in Rome's church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Benoist)The Piazza Sant'Ignazio in front of the church of St. Ignazio di Loyola is a late baroque theater set of buildings. Sit on the steps of the church before going inside and just look around; it's like being on a stage.

Inside the church—designed by the Jesuit mathematician Orazio Grassi, who modeled it after plans by Carlo Maderno—the sense of theater continues.

As you walk down the nave, keep your eye on the church's "dome" over the transept. The closer you get, the odder it looks.

That's because it isn't a dome at all. It's actually a masterpiece of trompe-l'oeil painted on a flat surface by Andrea Pozzo in 1685. On sunny days, the illusion is quite effective (if its cloudy outside, the inside of the "dome" with sunlight "streaming in" will look a bit funny).

Piazza Sant'Ignazio. (Photo by Lalupa)

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This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

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