Church of the Gesu

Gironale due

             As I was hanging out in the Campo de Fiori getting acquainted with my presentation sight I noticed it was almost four o’ clock. I decided this was the perfect time to do my solo excursion on a large church. I had to learn the hard way that churches in Italy re open at four when I tried to go to the church of Gesu and it was closed. Immediately after it started pouring rain and got soaked outside, so that was not a good experience. The church of Gesu is right by Campo de Fiori and it was a beautiful day out, so I decided to try my luck again. I got to the church of Gesu and was happy to find it open. I walked in and was amazed by the luxury of the church. The church seemed like it was entirely made of gold. I’m not sure if its actually gold or paint but I was still amazed. Everywhere I looked I saw bronze and gold. 

           What really captured my eyes in this church was the paintings and ceiling art. I had seen my share of art in churches by then, but the art in this church really tugged at my heart. The pictures were gruesome. I feel like a lot of the sculptures or pictures of the crucifixion of Jesus and the martyr of some of the saints are made to look beautiful. They erase the pain and how gruesome the situation actually was. It could be purposeful, or because of the specific preference of the artists but I enjoyed the paintings in the church because it was real. There was no cover up. In the depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus he had blood running down his face and body. His head was hung in defeat and you could see how emaciated he was. You could also see the pain in his face if you looked closely. In that moment I felt like those paintings evoked more emotion in me than any angelic crucifixion would. There was beauty in the realism and the church was field with these kinds of paintings. I left that church feeling amazed and having a new appreciation for art. It set the stage for what I liked and what I didn’t. I noticed that I don’t enjoy conventional things and that this really plays a part in my experience in the spaces that I visit.