The pope saw them in a group of friars who came from Paris, concentrated around Ignatius of Loyola, a Basque nobleman, in the past a soldier, and in 1534 the founder of a commune of men, which wanted to carry out missionary activity in the Holy Land. They came from Paris to Rome, in order to get the pope’s permission to establish an order (the Jesuits), which would be organized like an army regiment and which would have at its disposal faithful to the cause of the battle against heresy and paganism, educated and unconditionally subordinate to the pope, “soldiers” of Christ. Their weapon of choice was the power of persuasion and sacrifice in conversion – not by force and arms but with the use of   arguments. After coming to the Eternal City, the Jesuits not only obtained the pope’s permission to act, but were also given the parish house of the Church of Santa Maria della Strada, where in 1556, the founder of the Order of the Jesuits was laid to eternal rest not living to see the erection of a new, monastic church dedicated to Il Gesù. It was built in this location thirty years later. Its initiator and founder was the grandson of Pope Paul III and his nepot and at the same time a patron of the arts, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. It was thanks to him, and almost against the Jesuits’ wishes that one of the largest and most outstandingly furnished structures in Rome, was created. The cardinal spent 100 thousand scudos on it, which at that time was an exorbitant sum. The church dedicated to the Sacred Name of Jesus was built in the years 1568-1575, according to the designs of Jacopo da Vignola. It was the first Jesuit structure of significance in Rome (and second in the world). It constituted a benchmark in Jesuit construction, which from then on, taking this church as an example, spread all across the globe. The Roman church also became a symbol of power and significance of the Jesuits in all. After the death of da Vignola, works on the unfinished church were taken up by Giacomo della Porta. He was also the designer of the original – flat, enriched by volutes – façade. In it we see the elements still taken from Renaissance structures (Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo), but already enriched with more artistic forms, ushering in a new style – Baroque. It is relatively modest, while its decoration comes down to pilasters, few niches, in which the figures of the two principal founders of the order were placed – Ignatius of Loyola, in a symbolic way trampling heresy (in the form of a woman with uncovered breasts) and Francis Xavier treading on paganism. The window found above, which seems to be a balcony, is tasked with leading the rays of the setting sun into the interior. The cornice separating the elevation from the central part is adorned with an inscription immortalizing the founder of the building – cardinal Farnese, whose coat of arms is at the top of the façade, while the cartouche above the enterance with the emblems of the Jesuits, IHS (Iesum Habemus Socium – We Have Jesus as Our Companion), informs us who the church belongs to.

The eye-catching, seen from afar, bright façade was important for the Jesuits, but it was the plan of the interior that was of particular importance to them and that is where all the efforts went. It was based on a plan of a Latin cross, at the cross-section of which an imposing dome was created. The broad, undivided nave, was enriched with side chapels, and opens up with all its width onto the apse. It is preceded by an even wider, but relatively short transept, lit up with the light descending into the interior through the window openings in the dome. The aim of such an architectural undertaking was to direct the gaze and the thoughts of the visitor to one place – the main altar and thereby onto the liturgy and the priest celebrating it, who was to be visible from every part of the church. The vestibule as well as the triumphal arch separating the nave from the presbytery were done away with. Such a way of thinking about a church, as the House of God for all the faithful came to be during the Council of Trent. The interior was initially planned as   modest, but in time it was altered, so that it would amaze with wealth of ornaments and gilded surfaces. Today looking at the splendor of the church, it is hard to imagine how far removed the original based on simplicity plan of Loyola is, from the present from of the church. Vowing modesty and work on behalf of the poor and the needy, the founder of the Society of Jesus, desired to create a building for the people. The interior was to be simple and raw. Why then, was it transformed in such a way? When in 1622, Ignatius of Loyola was canonized, the situation of the Jesuits differed greatly from the time when they had come to Rome searching for the pope’s support. From a group of enthusiasts, the order transformed into a 13-thousand strong army active in Europe, but above all with great success on all other continents. In order to express the power of faith, but also their own significance, the Jesuits needed new means. Therefore, subsequent founders and benefactors were allowed to create an interior full of lavishness, delighting more with its wealth than bringing one to contemplation full of prayer. The spirit of simplicity and internal asceticism, which Loyola strove for, can still be experienced in another, distant from Rome, but built at the same time Jesuit church in Cracow (1568-1584). However, in the Roman church representation and triumphalism unambiguously defeated the spirit of modesty.

One hundered years after the construction of the Church of Il Gesù, it was decorated with stuccos, sculptures and paintings by the greatest artists living in Rome at that time. In 1702 frescoes of the apse and dome were completed by Baciccio (Giovanni Battista Gaulli). They are the greatest example of decoration of the Baroque period, in which painting, stucco and architecture come together as one, to show the visitor entering the church The Triumph of the Name of Jesus. The painting is a direct reference to the words of St. Paul: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”(Phil. 2,10, King James Bible). The artist opens up the central part of the vault for us, so that we would notice the scene taking place in the heavens, in which the light extending from the HIS monogram flows down to Earth, liberating it from paganism and heresy, on the way illuminating the intermediaries between Christ and people, meaning the saints resting on clouds. The condemned fall, pulled by demons, who cover their eyes from the light coming from the heavens, which here is also a symbol of the true faith. Was it possible to show the triumph of the Roman Catholic Church over heresy and paganism in a more convincing way?

The dominant element of the interior is the dome and it was also decorated by Baciccio – this time the topic was The Heavenly Glory of Christ, which is accompanied in the pendentives by the images of the four Evangelists, prophets and Doctors of the Church.

The arms of the transept were also annexed at the end of the XVI century, to serve as equally richly arranged chapels. One of them was devoted to Loyola. Its creator was the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo, who at the same time worked on the decorations of another church which belonged to the Society of Jesus – the Sant’Ignazio, where the aforementioned Jesuit triumphalism was even more visible and pronounced.

Chapels of the transept:

• Chapel of St. Ignatius of Loyola – on the left. For the decoration of the altar found in this chapel, the most exceptional materials were used – lapis lazuli, onyx, amethyst, crystal, gold, and silver, while its construction was completed by one hundered artists, craftsmen and aides. The statue of the saint which was initially made of silver but now covered by a painting is flanked by two monumental columns and adorned by numerous figures and reliefs. And all of this is the cover of the urn with the saint’s remains, made of gilded bronze. Additional decoration of the altar is provided by groups of figures, of which the most interesting one is The Triumph of Religion over Heresy, made by a French, valued at the end of the XVII century sculptor, Pierre Le Gros. The putto accompanying the group is tearing apart Protestant texts. The second group depicts The Triumph of Faith over Idolatry and it is the work of another Frenchman residing in Rome – Jean-Baptiste Theodon. The church vault is once again filled with frescoes by Baciccio, this time showing The Apotheosis of St. Ignatius. If that was not enough, every day (at 5:30 PM), accompanied by sounds of music and light illumination, the aforementioned figure rises and reveals itself to the faithful – however, it is no longer made of silver, since at the end of the XVIII century Pope Pius VI had it melted down.

• Chapel of St. Francis Xavier – on the right – it is much less decorative. It was also designed and decorated by renowned artists of the time – initially Giacomo della Porta, then Pietro da Cortona. A decorative reliquary holds the embalmed arm of the saint, who found death during his evangelization mission in India, which is shown in a painting found in the altarpiece, completed by Carlo Maratti.

The main altar of the church itself, is a XIX-century work and it is adorned by the painting The Circumcision of Jesus. This rare in the Roman Catholic Church topic, corresponds to the dedication of the church: in the Judaistic tradition, circumcision is equal with naming a child, and of course the church is dedicated to the name of Christ. And here a similar mechanism was used, to the one in the Chapel of St. Ignatius (macchina barocca), allowing for the lowering of the painting in order to show the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (the mechanism is generally not used). This place is given additional splendor by the apse frescoes of Baciccio, depicting the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.

Directly to the left of the altar is the Chapel of the Madonna of the Road (Cappella Madonna della Strada) dedicated to a painting, in front of which, as legend would have it, St. Ignatius was in the habit of praying. It reminds us of the fact, that in the very location, where the Jesuit church was built, there was in the past a small church dedicated to Maria della Strada. Reportedly, this painting, which is estimated to have been created at the beginning of the XIV century, was all that was left of it. The painting of the Madonna, recognized as the Queen of the Jesuits, found its place in  new, richly decorated chapel. Laid with marble, decorated with paintings depicting scenes from the life of Mary, it is topped off with a dome with a fresco representing angels, once again created by Andrea Pozzo.

In the chapels flanking the main nave of the church, there are some artistically interesting objects. It is worth mentioning them.

`                  Looking on from the main enterance

                      On the right:

•     Chapel of St. Andrew – devoted to the apostle, to whom a parish church was dedicated, which was torn down during works on the monastery which was part of the Jesuit monastery. The martyrdom of the saint is shown on a XVI-century painting, which was the work of a valued by the Jesuits, Florentine painter, Agostino Ciampelli, an expert in painting scenes of torture. This composition is accompanied by frescoes depicting the martyrdom of the early Christians
•     Chapel of Passion – in the interior we will see the moving work of a contemporary Bosnian artist, Safet Zec, entitled The Deposition, which is an example of a successful interpretation of a religious topic in a contemporary version.
•     Chapel of the Angels – it owes its name to angles, which constitute the decoration of the frescoes  within, as well as an altar with a painting entitled Angels Adoring the Holy Trinity. Their creator was the valued mannerist painter, Federico Zuccari.
•     Old sacristy (enterance behind the third chapel on the right). In the vestibule we will find interesting portraits of the church founders – Pope Paul III and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, as well as a scene depicting the canonization of Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier in the presence of subsequent benefactors of the order – Pope Gregory XV and his nepot Ludovico Ludovisi. Next to it is the sacristy room, which today is used as a chapel, designed by Girolamo Rainaldi in 1620. On its top is an imposing fresco, The Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, completed by the aforementioned Agostino Ciampelli (1518). The interior hides the works of outstanding masters – in the altar we will find the image of Ignatius of Loyola, attributed to Annibale Carracci. The coat of arms with six lilies, which appears there, is often encountered in the church interior as well. It is a tribute to the significance of the Farnese family, from which – as was stated before – the principal founder of the structure, Alessandro Farnese came, but also the greatest representative and benefactor of the Order of the Jesuits – Pope Paul III.

On the left:

•     Chapel of the Holy Trinity – third on the left. Here we will notice the paintings of artists from the turn of the XVI and XVII centuries. On the other hand, the altarpiece, is the work of a well-known and famous Venetian – Francesco Bassano the Younger, who showed his own vision of the Holy Trinity in it.
•     Chapel of the Holy Family – second on the left. In it we will find, typical for the period of the  Counterreformation paintings by Pomarancio (Niccolò Circignani), which are accompanied by four personifications of the virtues, completed by outstanding stucco artists of those times. On the left these are Courage and Justice (Fancelli brothers, on the right – Modesty and Wisdom by Domenico Guidi.
•     Chapel of St. Francis Borgia – first on the left. It was dedicated to a Spanish nobleman, general of the Order, but also the descendant of the famous popes Callixtus III and Alexander VI – we will see his figure in the main altar of the chapel surrounded by other friars from the Society of Jesus. At the top, we will once again notice frescoes by Pomarancio, while on the sides paintings by Francesco Mola depicting The Baptism of SS. Processus and Martinian by St Peter in the Mamertine Prison and The Conversion of St. Paul.

In the XVIII century, black clouds gathered over the Jesuits. In 1773 the order was suppressed   and it was not brought back to life until the pontificate of Pope Pius VII. In Rome, after the Jesuits recovered their church and monastery, it was modernized and further embellished. One of its rich founders, thanks to whom such actions could be undertaken, was Prince Alessandro Torlonia. The walls were at that time laid with marble, adorned by ornaments, stuccos, garlands, and allegories, and finally a new altar was constructed. We can only wonder what would have Ignatius of Loyola said if he had been able to see the current church. And would he even be able to recognize it?