Chiesa del Gesù (Palermo)

Jesuit Church in Palermo

The Chiesa del Gesù , also called Casa Professa , is a church in Palermo . It stands in the Piazza Casa Professa and is the oldest Jesuit church in Sicily .

Building history

The church building with a cross-shaped floor plan was built from 1564 to a design by Giovanni Tristano and from 1591 Natale Masuccio added the side aisles. The expansion of the interior lasted until 1860.

In 1943 the building was badly damaged by bombing and then extensively restored.

facade

Choir room, Jesuit high baroque

The rather simple facade is divided into two sections by a cornice. In the lower area there are three portals, above niches with the sculptures of Ignatius von Loyola , a Madonna with child and Francisco de Xavier . The upper area is divided by pilaster strips and is framed on both sides with consoles and statues of saints. At the top, the facade is completed by a blown segment gable and the Jesuit coat of arms. The side bell towers originally planned by Masucci were not built, the current campanile from the 18th century was built on the neighboring Palazzo Marchesi. In 1943 the building was badly damaged by bombing and then extensively restored. Behind the church is the Jesuit house, the Casa Professa, which now houses the city ​​library .

inner space

The layout of the three-aisled interior follows the specifications that were implemented with the Council of Trento, particularly in the Jesuit churches, for example in that every participant in the service could follow the sermon from anywhere in the church. The nave, built in the shape of a Latin cross, is 72.10 m long, 42.65 m wide and 70 m high and is decorated with multi-colored marble, stucco and frescoes. The marble reliefs with their figurative and ornamental motifs on the pillars and the perspective marble mosaics are particularly unique. The dome, which was destroyed in 1943, was rebuilt with a double dome and colored glass windows.

Equipment (selection)

• Pietro Novelli : "Paul as a hermit with followers" and "Saint Philip of Agira heals a man possessed" (1639)
• Rosalia Novelli : "Annunciation" (1645) and "Madonna Immacolata with saints" (1633)
• Vito D'Anna : Wall fresco with scenes from the life of Santa Rosalia (1625)
• Antonio Grano : panel paintings “Holy Family”, “Martyrs” (1704), “Adoration of the Magi” (1705) and ceiling frescoes with scenes from the life of Santa Rosalia (1714)
• Giuseppe Spatafora : "The Japanese Martyrs" (1655)
• Procopio Serpotta : Stucco arch "God the Father with Angels" and stucco decoration in the right aisle
• Gaspare Serenario : "Ciro and the Temple"
• Ignazio Marabitti : high relief "Saint Louis Gonzage"
• Gioacchino Vitagliano : "Abigail and David"
• Giambattista Ragusa : frescoes (pilaster strips)
• Giovanni Travaglia : marble relief (1670/72)
• Gaspare Vazzano: frescoes (1618)

gallery

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  Stained glass and frescoes

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  Main entrance

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  Ceiling and Lichtgaden

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  Ceiling with frescoes.

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  chapel

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  confessional

literature

• Giuseppe Bellafiore: Palermo. Guide to the city and the surrounding area. Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara 1959.
• Adriana Chirco: Palermo la città ritrovata. Flaccovio, Palermo 1999, ISBN 88-7758-469-6 .
• Alfonso Giannino SJ: La Chiesa del Gesù a Casa Professa Palermo. Instep. riveduta della 3rd ed. Officine tipografiche Aiello, Bagheria 2003.
• Maria Giuffrè: Baroque Sicily. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-264-2 , pp. 156ff., 171ff., 201, 204, 254.
• Exhibition folder “Itinerari Serpottiani” Arti Grafice Giordano, Palermo 1996.
• Antonio Cottone, Simona Bertorotta: New Domes for Old Churches (Palermo 1943) (PDF). In: Karl-Eugen Kurrer , Werner Lorenz , Volker Wetzk (eds.): Proceedings of the Third International Congress on Construction History . Neunplus, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-936033-31-1 , pp. 409-416

Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 46.5 "  N , 13 ° 21 ′ 42"  E