Il Gesù: Façade

In 1561 Cardinal Alessandro Farnese provided funding for much of the building of Il Gesù with the stipulation that no other patron be allowed at the site and that he be buried in the church. Typically for this period, the fa�ade of the building was considered a separate commission and Alessandro Farnese chose the design of Giacomo della Porta over those submitted by Giacomo Vignola and Galeazzo Alessi. Della Porta deployed paired pilasters across the fa�ade to give it additional dignity while retaining the integrity of the architectural surface. Columns frame, and thus accentuate, the central portal and the benediction loggia above it. The combination of double pediments over the portal, broken entablatures across the fa�ade, and the projection of the central unit of the building forward toward the piazza give the surface a muscular strength.

View the ground plan of Il Gesù, Rome.