Il Gesu, including Triumph of the Name of Jesus ceiling fresco. Rome, Italy. Giovanni Battista Gaulli, ceiling frescos (artist). Frescos and stucco figures 1676- 1679

• Form and Content
  • On the ceiling in the main nave of II Gesu, Rome
  • In the center is the monogram of Jesus, IHS, in a brilliant sea of golden color
  • Figures tumble below the name; some are carved in stucco and enhance the three-dimensional effect
  • Some cast long shadows across the barrel vault
  • Some painted figures are not stucco, but maintain a vibrant three-dimensional illusion.
  • It is as if the ceiling were opened to the sky and the figures are spiraling around Jesus’s name
  • Depicted in the center are holy men and women
  • Around the rim are priests, soldiers, noblemen, and the Magi
  • Allegories of avarice, simony, heresy, and vanity occupy the lowest registers
• Function
  • A Last Judgment scene, placed over the barrel vault of the nave; cf. Last Judgment scenes placed on the wall of the chapels
  • Message to the faithful: the damned are cast into hell; the saved rise heavenward
• Context
  • Inspired by Saint Paul’s epistle to the Philippians 2:10: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.”
  • There is the influence of Bernini’s dramatic emotionalism in the style; Gaulli was Bernini’s pupil.