Reformation and Counter-Reformation / Religious orders and their function in transmitting the language of the Counter-Reformation

It was within the Jesuit Order, as in the Theatine and other orders that the model of the Counter-Reformation Church was developed.

The Council of Trent saw the birth of numerous religious orders and movements interpreting the internal-reform requirements of the Catholic Church.
It was within the Jesuit Order, as in the Theatine and other orders that the model of the Counter-Reformation Church found inside and outside Europe was developed. Vignola’s Church of the Gesù in Rome, with its marked and wide longitudinal layout, would become an example of the perfect functional combination of structure and purpose in holy buildings, highlighting the distinction between the space dedicated to the devotion of the faithful and the space dedicated to the liturgy.

NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Sant'Andrea della Valle, Glory of the Virgin fresco1625–27Rome, Latium, ItalyThe Theatine Order, which was formed to re-establish the Church of the origins, sought to use the architecture of the building to improve on the model offered by the Church of the Gesù in Rome.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Sant'Andrea della Valle, Glory of the Virgin fresco1625–27Rome, Latium, ItalyThe dome of Sant'Andrea della Valle is the tallest in Rome after the dome of St. Peter's. The suggestion offered by viewing Lanfranco's Paradise fresco is spectacular. "... the air painted for him" (Bellori 1672).
Court and Theatine Church of St. Cajetan1663–1675: construction period; 1765–1768: façadeMunich-Old town, Upper Bavaria, GermanyAlbeit with differences in the façade which is flanked by two towers in the Nordic tradition, the Church of St. Cajetan in Munich, founded by the Theatines, was built on the model of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Court and Theatine Church of St. Cajetan1663–1675: construction period; 1765–1768: façadeMunich-Old town, Upper Bavaria, GermanyThe wide nave, flanked by deep chapels, confirms the popularity of an architectural model designed for preaching.
Roman Catholic Parish Church and Monastery of St. Ignatius of Loyola1634–1757Győr, Nyugat-Magyarország / West Hungary, HungaryThe early settlement of the Jesuits in Györ in Hungary was instrumental in the revival of the episcopate after the Turkish occupation. The building, richly decorated in the mid-18th century, is based on the Church of the Gesù in Rome, retaining the single-room structure chosen by the order to maximise the effect of preaching.
Church of St. Ignatius, Triumph of St. Ignatius ceiling fresco1691–94Rome, Latium, ItalyThe "revelation" of the saint, who appears in the open skies in dizzying perspective, painted by the Jesuit artist Pozzo, is the result of a masterly artistic technique intended to trigger a mystical experience in the faithful, as recommended in Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Church of the Gesù, painted architecture of the high altar1699–1700Frascati, Rome, Latium, ItalyIn the Jesuit church of Frascati, Andrea Pozzo used illusionistic perspective to create a fake choir behind the main altar, representing the Circumcision of Jesus.
The overcoming of physical limits through artistic invention is one of the keys to understanding Baroque art.
Academy Church of St. Catherine1620–1632Zagreb, North-West Croatia, CroatiaThis was the first Jesuit church in Croatia. The façade is based on the mother church of the Order in Rome. The Jesuit settlement in Zagreb in 1606 triggered the spread of the Counter-Reformation and Baroque art in Croatia.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
High Altar of St. Catherine of Alexandria1762The sanctuary, eastern wall, Academy Church of St. CatherineZagreb, North-West Croatia, Croatia
Church of São RoqueSecond half of the 16th century Lisbon, Évora, PortugalBuilt in the late 16th century, the building represents an early and original interpretation of the "single room" church.
NameDynastyDetailsJustification
Ceiling Painting16th and 17th centuriesInterior, Church of São RoqueLisbon, Évora, Portugal