The wonders of Baroque and beyond

IN SHORT: an itinerary where Baroque is the protagonist, with spectacular architecture that brings to earth celestial visions.

IN MORE DETAIL: We start with Our Lady of Victory, entirely decorated with gilded stucco and colored marble. The constant coming and going of visitors is due to the presence of the sculpture “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” by Bernini, a Baroque masterpiece, ethereal, dramatic and multimedial! A restless emotion fixed forever between architecture, sculpture and paintings; and in the middle an angel ignites the heart of Saint Teresa d’Avila by piercing her with a flaming arrow.
Just a few steps away is the church of Saint Charles at the Four Fountains by Borromini: a small white treasure, where pure light plays in the crevices of this busy architecture, compressed and almost abstract. A dream of rhythm and musicality joined in space.
Practically in contrast, on the same street, is Sant’Andrea al Quirinale (Church of Saint Andrew’s at the Quirinal), where Bernini reaffirms his style, made of color, of expanded space, of an open naturalism, free and sensual. Borromini was largely misunderstood, and Bernini, on the other hand, was welcomed and honored. It’s a great occasion to see them up close, and discover that, each in his own way, represented a new, uneasy, new world.
We then move on to St. Ignatius with its painted ceiling and its “funny” dome! If we can manage to hurry, we can finish our tour at The Church of the Gesù, home to the very first large Baroque fresco, on the ceiling of the central nave, that opens up to the Heavens and the Glory in the name of Jesus.