Carlo Fontana and the Jesuit Sanctuary at Loyola

Author(s): Hellmut Hager

Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 37 (1974), pp. 280-289
Published by: The Warburg Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/750843 .
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 CARLO FONTANA AND THE JESUIT SANCTUARY
AT LOYOLA*

By Hellmut Hager
Carlo Fontana was invited to submit a project for the church and
When
Jesuit college at Loyola, it was one of the most important commissions
of his professional career. The early history of the college's foundation, and
the progress of its building, have been documented by Otto Schubert,1
Josef Braun,2 Edward Coudenhove-Ertal3 and, more recently, Rafael M. de
Hornedo.4
The establishment of the Jesuit college at Loyola was sponsored by the
Queen Mother, Maria of Austria, widow of Philip IV, but it was due to the
initiative of Juan Pablo de Oliva, then General of the Society, that her plans
were carried out. Oliva would almost certainly have asked his friend Bernini
to design the church5 had the latter not died just before the project was started.
The commission therefore went to Carlo Fontana, Bernini's most talented
pupil.6
The 'Casa Santa' (P1.66), birthplace of St. Ignatius, was to be incorporated
in the new structure7 (P1. 64b), and Maria of Austria acquired it on
19 February 1682. Oliva had died a year earlier, on 21 January 1681, without
seeing Fontana's plans. He was succeeded by Charles de Noyelle, who sent
the plans to Loyola while he was general from 1681 to 1686, and who gave
instructions that the building was to follow Fontana's project exactly.8
As soon as the Fathers in Loyola came into possession of the 'Casa Santa',
where a chapel dedicated to St. Ignatius had already existed since the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century, they started to decorate the house and to
provide living quarters, which were ready for their use by the end of I682.9
However, the foundation stone of the college was not laid until 28 March 1689.
Jean Begrand, architect and lay member of the society, had been summoned
from Belgium and charged with the supervision of the construction. On
30 January 1693 this charge was transferredto the Spanish architect, Martin
* I should like to thank Allan and Helen schrift,lxiv, 1969, pp. 229-33.
Braham who revised the translation. 6 There is no evidence in the archives of the
1 Otto Schubert, Geschichtedes Barocks in Casa Generalizia dei Gesuiti in Rome to
Spanien,Esslingen 1908, pp. 163-9. show whether Bernini had been approached
2josef Braun, Spaniensalte Jesuitenkirchen.and Carlo Fontana directly inherited the
Ein Beitrag zur Geschichteder nachmittelalter-commission, as it seems to have been the case
lichen Architekturin Spanien (Erginzungsheft with the Cappella Cybo at S.Maria del Popolo
zu den Stimmen aus Maria Laach, cxii-cxiii), in Rome. The information contained in the
Freiburg i. Br. 1913, PP. 15o-6o. fascicle 'Collegia Loyola' (1459/2 olim busta
3 Eduard Coudenhove-Erthal, CarloFontana N.88/2) is mainly limited to the foundation
und die Architekturdes r6mischenSpdtbarocks,of the college, the acquisition of the house of
Vienna 1930, pp. 134-9. St. Ignatius and the patronage of Mary of
4Rafael M. de Hornedo, 'La basilica de Austria.
Loyola', MiscellaneaComillas,xxv, 1956, pp. 7Acta SanctorumJulii, vii, p. 78f; see de
383-430. Hornedo, op. cit., p. 389.
6 De
Hornedo, op. cit., p. 387; Francis 8 Coudenhove-Erthal, op. cit., p. I35.
Haskell, Patronsand Painters, London 1963, 9 Schubert, op. cit., p. 263; de Hornedo,
p. 85; Rudolf Kuhn, 'Gian Paolo Oliva und op. cit., p. 839.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini', R'mische Quartal-
280
 65

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 CARLO FONTANA AND LOYOLA 281
de Zaldua, with the stipulation that Zaldua should proceed in agreement with
Begrand.10 Since the latter died soon afterwards, on 19 February 1694, the
management was left solely to Zaldua, who is still recorded on the site in 1719,
though by then only in an advisory capacity. At that time, when the termina-
tion of the portico was under discussion, the principal architect was Sebastian
de Lacuna.11
The college building was ready for its inhabitants in 1704, but the com-
pletion dragged on even beyond the middle of the nineteenth century.12 The
lantern of the dome was finished in 1738 and the church was dedicated to St.
Ignatius on 31 January of the same year, though the interior was still
unfinished.13
The question of how far the college, as it stands now, corresponds to
Fontana's plans, has been the subject of much research. Coudenhove-Erthal,14
for example, assumed 'with the highest degree of probability, that the design
of the ground plan should be credited to Carlo Fontana and nobody else',
and de Hornedo agreed with this interpretation.15 Since no plan by Carlo
Fontana for Loyola has hitherto been traced, the matter has remained a
subject of speculation.
The lack of original designs can now at least partially be remedied by a
previously unpublished and unidentified plan (Pls. 65a, 68a). This consistsof a
circular church in the centre of a huge structure with a broad rectangular
ground plan, incorporating two courtyards.16 The design is preserved in the
collection of the architect and art historian Andrea Busiri-Vici; and its con-
nexion with Loyola becomes evident if we compare it with the plan of the
Jesuit college as it was built (P1 65b), and note a more or less close corre-
spondence of the measurements.17 However, since there are also certain
divergences, especially in the treatment of the church and its proportional
relationship to the surrounding structures,it is obvious that the design must be
related to a stage of the project preceding the final plan.18
The plan differs in its technique from Carlo Fontana's habitual style, and
the drawing can therefore be regarded only as a copy of a lost design"9
probably made in the second quarter of the eighteenth century or shortly
before. It was acquired by one of the present owner's ancestors, Andrea Vici,
10 stands now (156 m.). The depth of the build-
Braun, op. cit., p. 153.
11De Hornedo, op. cit., p. 392. ing is 255 palmi (56.-io m.), excluding the
12 De Hornedo, op. cit., p. 391. central projection of the rear side; the corre-
13 Braun,
op. cit., p. 153. sponding difference is not more than 6-4o m.
14 Coudenhove-Erthal, op. cit.,
p. 134. (the actual building measures in this direction
15 De Hornedo, op. cit., p.
411. 62i50 m.).
16 Rome, Andrea Busiri-Vici Collection. 18 The church of the Busiri-Vici design is
Pen, dark grey ink on white paper (28-6 x slightly larger in proportion. With a total
cm.) with grey washes. Unsigned and diameter of 170 palmi (37.40 m.) it would
39"7
undated have exceeded the size of the present church
(see following note).
17 The drawing is measured, but the unit m. The extension of the
(35 m.) by
of measurement is not specified. The Roman main space 2.40(diameter Ioo palmi 22 m.)
origin, however, leaves no doubt that the has been reduced by c. 2 m. For the other
scale is in palmi Romani. On this assumption modifications in the plan, see below.
the maximum length of the college repre- 19 The use of dark grey ink instead of
sented on the design is 620 palmi (136.40 m.), bistre, for example, is a major difference from
I9-60 m. shorter than the building as it autograph drawings by Carlo Fontana, as is
19
 282 HELLMUT HAGER
also an architect by profession,who settled in Rome after coming from Arcevia,
near Ancona, and who became in 1785 a member of the Academy of St. Luke.20
One of the major differences between the church in the Busiri-Vici plan
and the actual building lies in the treatment of the larger chapels on the four
main axes of the church. Those in the church as executed do not extend
beyond the main body of the circle, and the paired full columns articulating
the central enclosure have been replaced by single pilasters. The walls separat-
ing the chapels from each other have been eliminated. Consequently the
recesses, which in the early design surrounded the main space, have been
turned into a feature which is unusual in the tradition of circular churches,
as we shall see later. A series of identical altars is accommodated in the
shallow niches carved out of the retaining walls,21 but the main altar has a
large opening above the mensa and an elaborate framework, built to the
design of Ignacio Ibero,2 with a statue of the titular saint in the upper tier.
Features surviving from the early plan include the corridors pierced
through the enclosing walls and converging towards the focal point at the
centre of the church, and the oblong space behind the main altar which in the
drawing had served merely as a passage connecting two spiral staircases. On
an engraved ground plan published by the Bollandists (P1. 66),23 it is still
indicated as having this function. Ignacio Ibero enlarged this room, now no
longer connected with the staircases but opening towards the neighbouring
corridors, and used it to provide a luminous foil for the tabernacle above the
altar. A further and very important survival from the earlier scheme is the
convex portico with its double ramped stairway.
Unfortunately no elevation drawings related to the early ground plan have
come to light. Fontana's ideas for the interior of St. Ignatius can nevertheless
be tentatively reconstructed, if we take it for granted that the height of the
lower storey and of the drum of the dome have remained essentially unaltered.
The present articulation of the main space with arches resting on piers is
also the manner in which the scale is indi- grey watercolour and signed GirolamoSoma,
cated and the handwriting of the numbers. and a drawing for the decoration of the vault
For Fontana's draughtsmanship see Allan of an oval room signed by Tomaso Cardano
Braham and Hellmut Hager, Carlo Fontana's ('Thomas Cardanus') whose name is men-
Drawings in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle tioned about the turn of the Seicento in
(in the press). The date mentioned is sug- connexion with S. Maria dell'Orto in Rome
gested because the drawing is comparable (Thieme-Becker, v, 1912, p. 583). Attached
in its rendering to designs for the Concorsi to the present design, but by different hands,
Clementini of the Academy of St. Luke in are a ground plan for a theatre and the eleva-
Rome for the period in question. tion of a doorway leading into a garden.
20 Melchiore Missirini, Memorie 21 On the engraved ground plan (P1. 66)
per servire
alla Storia della Romana Accademia di S. Luca the chapels of the diagonals have the form of
fino alla morte di Antonio Canova, Rome I823, semi-circular niches which exist in similar
pp. 359f-, 372ff.; Thieme-Becker, xxiv, I940, shape behind the present altars. For the date
p. 327. The drawing is bound with a number see note 23.
of heterogeneous drawings, including figura- 22 Braun,
op. cit., p. 153.
tive and landscape sketches, but also copies 23The approximate date is 1721, when the
after Carlo Fontana's ground plans for the College was visited by two collaborators of the
Palazzo Montecitorio, which differ from the 'Acta Sanctorum', Archivio Hist6rico de
present design in the use of black and red Loyola, Diario Histdricode Loyola, 1713-1763,
washes. In the same volume are a design for p. 21.
a cartouche for Clement XI, heightened with
 CARLO FONTANA AND LOYOLA 283
paralleled in other buildings by Carlo Fontana (for example in his project
for a church to be erected in the Colosseum)24 and it is therefore likely to
derive from his original plans. The narrower openings on the diagonal axes
may have been intended to be lower than at present to leave space for the
'coretti' which originated in the Roman Gesi' and became a common feature
even in churches belonging to other religious orders.25 The present location
of these chapels (which were required for the obligatory private devotions of
the college members), above the side entrances, appears for this reason to
be a departure from Fontana's plans. In the partitioning of the inner wall
surface of the drum Carlo's design for the church in the Flavian Amphitheatre
suggests that he intended the articulation of the principal storey to be con-
tinued upwards in the form of either columns or pilasters, although the i:I
ratio between the two zones which occurs in the Colosseum design is not to
be found at Loyola, and the drum is slightly lower in proportion. For this
reason it seems incorrect to speak, as Coudenhove-Erthal does, of an 'increased
verticalism', and to assume that the drum was heightened by the architects
who supervised the construction.26 Apart from the abundant surface decora-
tion surrounding the windows in the cylindrical wall of the drum, the inter-
vention of these architects is not even really perceptible in the shaping of the
dome, the contours of which are only slightly more stilted than is usual in
Fontana's works.27 As a rule he leaves the inner shell undivided, and from this
one might conclude that the ribbing is a later adjustment. But the draperies
with the royal insignia which are spread between the arches are one of
Fontana's favourite motifs and are therefore likely to stem from his design.28
24 See H. Hager, 'Carlo Fontana's project hove-Erthal, op. cit., pl. 6) and it is therefore
for a church in honour of the "Ecclesia very unlikely to have been envisaged by
Triumphans" in the Colosseum, Rome', Fontana. Moreover the ratio between the
this Journal, XXXVI, 1973. two storeys seems correct for Fontana, since
25 For example on Rainaldi's plan for S. his elevation for the church of S. Maria di
Maria in Campitelli as an oval church. See Montesanto shows that he favoured schemes
Furio Fasolo, L'Opera di Hieronimo e Carlo with a fully developed upper tier (see H.
Rainaldi, Rome 1961, pl. 52. Hager, 'Zur Planungs und Baugeschichte der
26 Coudenhove-Erthal,
op. cit., p. I35, Zwillingskirchen auf der Piazza del Popolo
based his assertion on the admittedly very in Rom', Rimisches Jahrbuchfir Kunstgeschichte,
important relationship between the diameter xi, 1967/68, p. 211, pls. 155, 157f-).
of the circular main room and its height, 27 Besides the examples already mentioned,
which he compares to S. Maria dei Miracoli see also the dome of the cathedral at Monte-
on the Piazza del Popolo and Fontana's fiascone. Hans Ost, 'S. Margherita in
church project for the Colosseum. Neither Montefiascone: a centralized building plan
comparison is convincing because the system of the Roman Quattrocento', Art Bulletin,
of proportion is dependent in both cases on lvii, 1970, fig. 15. H. Hager, 'Die Kuppel
external factors: in the first example, as des Domes in Montefiascone. Zu einem
Coudenhove-Erthal admits, on the vertical borrominesken Experiment von Carlo Fon-
dimensions of the twin church S. Maria di tana', Rdmisches Jahrbuch fdr Kunstgeschichte
Montesanto, which was constructed first; and (in the press).
in the second on the height of the tiers of the 28 See the decoration for the funeral ser-
Amphitheatre to which Carlo Fontana vices for Leopoldo of Austria in S. Maria
adapted his project. In Loyola a drum lower dell'Anima in 1705 (Braham-Hager, op. cit.)
than the existing one would produce, behind and for Pedro II of Portugal in S. Antonio
the pediment of the portico, a rather un- dei Portoghesi in 1707 (Coudenhove-Erthal,
favourable effect on an observer viewing the op. cit., pl. 30).
Jesuit church at a short distance (see Couden-
 284 HELLMUT HAGER
The twin towers flanking the dome no doubt also belong to the original
scheme, since they are present in a comparable position in the Colosseum
project, though they have been shifted from the main cross axis to positions dia-
gonally behind the dome. The lantern and the pinnacles of the campanili
contain details obviously carried over from Fontana's project, for instance, the
ring of candlesticks and the decorative vases which occur so frequently in
Fontana's architecture.29 But the execution is coarser, more rigid and shows
less imagination,30 probably because of economies made by the local architects.
Obviously Roman in character is the three-bay open portico, surmounted
above the central entrance by a broken triangular pediment, which derives
from the twin churches of the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, where Carlo
Fontana had collaborated with Carlo Rainaldi and Bernini.31 But the archi-
tect here shows himself likewise responsive to the influence of another
prototype, Rainaldi's facade project of 1662 for S. Maria in Campitelli, from
which are derived the curving tripartite front and the paired columns and
pediment round the central opening.2 The arcading of the portico comes
from Bernini's S. Maria Assunta at Ariccia in the construction of which
Fontana had participated as Gian Lorenzo's assistant.33
Further modifications are noticeable in the actual college building as com-
pared with the drawing. The corner recesses of the principal and rear fronts
have been straightened out so as to obtain a unified block.4 This alteration is
connected with the transposition of the two small staircases from the
lateral wings to the front of the main wing, where they have been changed
into 'gran escaleras' and accommodated parallel to the fagade in spacious
halls accessible from the two central passages. Permission for this remarkable
improvement to Fontana's scheme was granted in 1702 by the General of the
Society, Thyrsus Gonzales, in Rome.35
The alteration affecting the church were already decided upon about 1696,
when Fontana's plan was in such poor condition that its repair and a copy
were ordered. This and the decision of the previous year to enlarge the circular
passageway is mentioned in the record of a visit by the P. Provincial Francisco
de Alecon36. Unfortunately we have no means of knowing whether Fontana's
advice on this point was sought or followed by the authorities of the society or
the architects in Spain. A measure such as the replacement of columns by
pilasters in the interior has a precedent in S. Maria dei Miracoli in Rome,
29 Storia dell'Arte, i, 1929, pp. 281-5; Heinrich
Coudenhove-Erthal, op. cit., p. 138;
Braham-Hager, op. cit. Brauer and Rudolf Wittkower, Die Zeich-
30 Hager, 'Zwillingskirchen', op. cit., p. 226 nungen des Gianlorenzo Bernini, Berlin 1931,
n. 37. pp. 15ff.
34 This favoured the
31 Coudenhove-Erthal, op. cit., p. 138. heightening of the
32Rudolf Wittkower, Art andArchitecture in fa?ade by attic wings which are raised on top
Italy, i6oo-i750, 3rd edn., Harmondsworth of the main cornice above the six outermost
1973, p. 245; idem, 'Carlo Rainaldi and the windows and echo as lateral accents the storey
Roman architecture of the Full Baroque', of the drum (Pls. 64b, 66).
Art Bulletin,xix, 1937, p. 280, fig. 45; Fasolo, 35 Braun, op. cit., p. 154; de Hornedo,
op. cit., pl. 54. op. cit., p. 391.
33Giovanni Incisa della Rocchetta, 'Notizie 36Arch. Hist. de Loyola, Libra de las visitas.
sulla fabbrica della chiesa Collegiata di For this reference I am indebted to P.J.R
Ariccia', Rivista del R. Istitutodi Archeologiae Eguillor S. J. archivist.
 CARLO FONTANA AND LOYOLA 285
where a similar change seems to be attributable to Carlo Fontana. The
modification at Loyola is, however, a more radical one, because the shafts
are not coupled as in S. Maria dei Miracoli, but reduced to an order of single
pilasters. Like the transformation of the encircling chapels into a corridor, it
seems to have formed part of a very thorough revision of Fontana's plans.
Though one might refer for a comparison to a similar ground plan for a
chapel37 (P1. 68b), it seems that the initiative came from elsewhere, probably
from the architects supervising the work and the Jesuit Fathers at Loyola, who
apparently found themselves forced to reduce the building costs.
In yet another respect the ground plan of the Jesuit college of today differs
from the Busiri-Vici plan, where the cubic structure of the 'Casa Santa' with
its thick retaining walls is not indicated (Pls. 65b, 66). Two main explanations
for this omission are possible. Fontana may have intended to deal with this
rather awkward element in a broad manner so as not to endanger the
symmetry of the layout, which is apparent as the guiding principle throughout
the plan; or the architect who made the copy may himself have disregarded it
for the same reason.
Considered in more general terms it is surprising that Fontana's church
scheme, much like his later project for the Liechtenstein castle at Landskron,
makes no concession to local traditions.38 Probably Fontana was not even
familiar with these traditions, because there is no record that he visited Spain.
But his church plan fits no more easily into established categories of Jesuit
church building.39 Commonly referred to as the 'Santuario de Loyola', it is
related more closely to the tradition of sanctuaries dedicated to the Holy
Virgin and often equipped with a time-honoured image or a relic as a focus of
37Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Large (2-64 m.), and the building in the project in
Talman Album, fol. 2. Pen on white paper the Talman album is also located at the
(42-4 X 32-4 cm.), with brown and grey corner of a structure extending to the right.
washes. Scale evidently in palmi Romani. The But with a building on a very small scale a
attribution to Carlo Fontana is prompted by difference of 2-64 m. would be important.
the similarity with the other plans discussed It can further be objected that the location of
in this article; with the draughtsmanship the Collegio Clementino, directly on the
paralleled in some of his drawings for the Tiber embankment, excludes for practical
Teatro di Tor di Nona (Sir John Soane's reasons a church which would be orientated
Museum, London); and with the hand- with the main entrance towards the river.
writing (see for example the explanatory Representations of the site by Gaspar Van
remarks on the design for a chapel of the Wittel and Piranesi demonstrate that there is
main altar in S. Spirito dei Napolitani in not even a path in front of the rear fa?ade
Rome: Windsor Castle, Royal Library, (see Cesare D'Onofrio, II Tevere e Roma,
no. 9503). The inscription unfortunately Rome 1970, pls. 54, 62). For this reason the
refers only to technicalities and gives no clue chapel which was actually built had its main
to the identification of the building to which entrance on the opposite side and was not
the drawing appertains. Karl Noehles, La accessible from the exterior of the college
Chiesa dei SS. Luca e Martina nell'Opera di Pietro building.
da Cortona, Rome 1970, p. 167 n. 350, tried 38 Coudenhove-Erthal,
op. cit., pp. 14Iff.;
to connect it also with Fontana's chapel of the Braham and Hager, op. cit.
Collegio Clementino (see note 52). Compar- 39Jean Vallery-Radot, 'Le recueil des
ing the dimensions of the diameters of the plans d'edifices de la Compagnie de Jesus
main space (Oxford design, 33 palmi = 6-66 conserv6 a la Bibliotheque Nationale de
m.; Chapel of the Assunta 45 palmi = Paris', Bibliotheca Instituti Historici S.J., xv,
9.90
m.), there is a difference of only I2 palmi Rome 1960.
286 HELLMUT HAGER
veneration. The relationship mentioned above to the church of S. Maria in
Campitelli, which was commissioned by Alexander VII after the plague of
1656 as a new shelter for a medieval icon of the Mother of God, is in this
respect not entirely coincidental.40 On closer analysis it can be shown that
the project of the medal of 1662 for S. Maria in Campitelli anticipates the
sanctuary in Loyola not only as far as the structure of the facade is concerned,
but also in being a centralized church conceived as the core of a plan which
includes symmetrically placed quarters for the religious communities
concerned.41
At this time the planning of a college with a church as its centre was the
topic of a competition at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. Small wonder
that one of the projects, by Pompeo Ferrari, which was awarded the first prize
(Pls. 67a, b), bears a certain resemblance to Fontana's proposal for Loyola.42
This resemblance may be seen in the overall arrangement of the ground plan,
and is particularly visible in the central protrusion of the rear facade and in the
facing of the exterior (Pls. 64b, 66). In both cases the windows are grouped
into sections of varying breadths by an order of giant pilasters after the pattern
set by Bernini's Palazzo Ludovisi of Montecitorio (then still unfinished). The
date inscribed on Pompeo Ferrari'sdrawing of the front elevation is 1681, but
unfortunately this cannot be considered reliable, because other drawings made
for the same contest by Andrea della Valle from Citti di Penna, and Ambrogio
Ravassi, a native of Milan, who won the second and third prizes respectively,
are inscribed 1678.43 For this reason it is impossible to determine whether
Ferrari was dependent upon Fontana, though it seems very probable since the
latter is mentioned as an instructor at the Accademia di S. Luca as early as
I675.-44
An example of this type of building carried out in Rome, and a sequel to
40oWittkower, 'Rainaldi', op. cit., Art 'Vittone's drawings in the Mus6e des Arts
Bulletin, xix, I937, PP. 278ff.; Hager, D6coratifs', Studiesin Renaissanceand Baroque
'Zwillingskirchen', op. cit., pp. 297f. Art presentedto Anthony Blunt on his 6oth
41 See the medal of I662 and Rainaldi's birthday,London/New York I967, p. I67.
final project for S. Maria in Campitelli, 43Rome, Archives of the Accademia de
Wittkower, 'Rainaldi', op. cit., Art Bulletin, S. Luca, Cartella III-B, nos. 363, 364, 365:
xix, I937, p. 287, figs. 52, 53. project by Andrea di Nicolangelo della Valle
42 Archives of the Accademia di S. Luca in from Citta di Penna, second prize (inscrip-
Rome, Cartella III-B, no. 362, ground plan. tion: '1I678'on no. 363) and nos. 366, 367,
Pen with grey washes, white paper, o056 X 368: project by Carlo Antonio Ravassi from
m. Inscriptions: 'Prima Classe dell' Milan (inscription: '1I678' on no. 366). In
I.Io
Architettura. all the designs the church is located in the
Pompeo Ferrari Romano.
Primo Premio' (recto bottom left) and 'H' centre on the front wing, but none of them
(on the back). No. 353, elevation of the main displays a special affinity to the college of the
front. Pen, grey and brown washes on white Jesuits at Loyola. Much confusion has sur-
paper, o052 X i-10
m. Inscription below the rounded the date of the projects of the
drawing corresponds to no. 362. Added by Concorsi Accademici; see Hellmut Hager, 'Il
different hand the date of 1681. No. 381, Modello di Ludovico Rusconi Sassi del Con-
section. Pen, grey washes on white paper, corso per la Facciata di S. Giovanni in
0-53 X m. Inscription below the draw- Laterano (1732) ed i prospetti a convessiti
I.-o
ing corresponds to no. 362. The drawings centrale durante la prima meta del Settecento
nos. 362 and 353 were copied by Bernardo in Roma', Commentari,xxxiii, 1971, p. 40.
Vittone, Paris, Musee des Arts D6coratifs, 44Hager, 'Carlo Fontana's project for a
vol. ii, fols. I46 and I48. Rudolf Wittkower, church', op. cit., p. 328.
 CARLO FONTANA AND LOYOLA 287
Rainaldi's S. Maria in Campitelli, was the Ospizio di S. Galla by Mattia de'
Rossi (1683-88). It was contemporary with Fontana's Loyola project and
obviously connected with it through the common prototype.45 A considerable
part of Carlo Fontana's experience in the design for the Spanish college, with
its extended arcaded courtyards, was later put to use in the scheme for the
enlargement of the Ospizio di S. Michele in Rome, of which, unfortunately,
only about a half was executed in conformity with Fontana's plans
(1708-14).41
The conception of the church interior on the Busiri-Vici drawing (P1.68a)
is, however, independent of the projects for S. Maria in Campitelli; it has two
main sources, one of which is the ground plan of Bernini's S. Maria Assunta in
Ariccia. The two plans have in common the arrangement of the chapels
within concentric circles, and in each case another element similarly disposed,
in one the sacristy, in the other the external steps.
The role of the Assunta as the point of departure for Fontana's Loyola
scheme seems to be endorsed by a plan for a cylindrical ecclesiastical building
(P1. 68c) which itself corresponds closely in plan with Bernini's edifice and
which almost duplicates its oblong portico. But this plan also has the inter-
dependent chapels, and the circuit of double columns which characterize the
Loyola church project, and which have their origin in Michelangelo's wooden
model for S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini.47
The narrow straight corridors, which at Ariccia join the sacristy with the
main space of the church, and in the new drawing link the portico with the
church interior, have been increased to eight in number in the Loyola project
and placed radially.
The second drawing is, however, also a copy, in this case by Bernardo
Antonio Vittone.48 That Vittone transmitted a design by Fontana is corro-
borated by the fact that the same scheme reappears as a centralized vestibule
in Fontana's numerous projects for the Liechtenstein castle.49 The church for
which this ground plan was produced is still unidentified. An assumption that
it is related to St. Ignatius at Loyola, which is suggested by the stylistic
analogies of the plan and the intermediate position that it occupies between
Bernini's church at Ariccia and Fontana's scheme for Loyola, would be sup-
ported by the fact that the diameter of the inner circle (67 piedi Torinesi=
22-68 m.) corresponds to that of the church on the Busiri-Vici drawing, where
the diameter is ioo palmi Romani 22 m.
- Vittone's
If this hypothesis is correct, and plan shows an earlier phase
of the Loyola project, an explanation is still needed to account for the
45 Now destroyed. Survey of the front in 48Fol. 186 of the Vittone volume in the
Vasi, Magnificenze, ix, 1759, pl. 177. Mariano Musee des Arts Decoratifs quoted in note 42.
Armellini, Le chiesedi RomadalIV secoloal XIX, Pen on white paper X o0I94 m.) with
2nd edn., Rome 1942, pl. on p. 774.- grey washes. Some (o.25pencilled preparatory
6 The reasons for this conclusion are based lines on white paper have been preserved.
on the symmetry of the ground plan of the The scale obviously indicated in piedi Torinesi
Hospice (see Braham and Hager, op.cit.). (I ft. o0-34 m.). For the composition
of the
7 For Michelangelo's model of S. Giovanni volumes, see Wittkower, 'Vittone drawings',
dei Fiorentini in Rome, see James Ackerman, op. cit., pp. 165-72.
The Architecture of Michelangelo,2nd edn., i, * Windsor Castle, Royal Library, no.
London 1966, figs. 69, 71a, 71b. 9563. See Braham and Hager, op. cit.
288 HELLMUT HAGER
discrepancy in the treatment of the four major chapels which, in the Roman
design, project beyond the enclosing wall. This particular feature is pre-
figured in Fontana's plan for a circular chapel in an album at the Biblioteca
dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte in Rome (P1. 68d).
The drawing is in fact an early design for the Cappella Cybo at S. Maria del
Popolo.50 Made about 168o, but discarded in favour of the scheme finally
adopted, it slightly antedates the Loyola project. The space for the altar and
the entrance vestibule are conceived as mirror images and sections of a circle
that is concentric with the central body of the chapel. This feature ofFontana's
recalls Bernini's church at Ariccia, though there the sacristy is separated from
the main body of the church by the space for the high altar. In this respect,
therefore, Fontana's plan is more closely related to Pietro da Cortona's first
design for SS. Luca e Martina,51 which he adapted to the smaller scale and
more enclosed position of the Cappella Cybo,52and which is the second major
prototype for the Loyola project.
As regards the ambulatory (one of the most unusual features of the church),
de Hornedo53 has suggested S. Costanza as a model, but Wittkower's pro-
posal that it derives from Longhena's S. Maria della Salute is far more
convincing.54 This connexion is confirmed by other similarities between the
churches, such as the high pedestals of the columns, the encircling galleries
and the statues at Loyola which, however, as Wittkower admits, are of a later
date.55
Although it can be taken for granted that Carlo Fontana was quite familiar
with Longhena's edifice, it is highly improbable, as has been stated above,
that it was he who reverted to it in the final stages of the Loyola design. Since
the Venetian church was already by then very famous, the establishment of
the wide circular ambulatory, which was also alien to the contemporary
tradition of centralized building in Spain,56and the other changes imposed on
the interior of St. Ignatius, can be attributed with confidence to the architects
at Loyola, Begrand and Zaldua.
50Rome, Biblioteca dell'Istituto Nazionale 53 De Hornedo, op. cit., p. 410.
de Archeologia e Storia dell Arte, Collezione 5 Wittkower, Art and Architecture,op. cit.,
Lanciani, MS I01, fol. I4V. Published by p. 245. De Hornedo, loc. cit., questioned the
Ugo Donati, Artisti Ticinesi, Bellinzona 1942, possibility of an influence from S. Maria
p. 310, fig. 257, as a design for an un- della Salute in Venice and considered the
identified chapel. The connexion with the Roman church of S. Costanza more impor-
Cappella Cybo is substantiated by a repre- tant, because he believed that the plan used
sentation of the previous chapel on the site, for St. Ignatius at Loyola was Carlo
which is indicated in dotted lines and with Fontana's.
yellow washes. 65 Wittkower, Art and Architecture,op. cit.,
be argued that the
p. 386 n. 16. It might
51 Noehles,
op. cit., p. 73, fig. 55-
52For the reference to the drawing in the church on the Canal Grande is octagonal in
Collezione Lanciani in connexion with the plan and therefore belongs to another cate-
circular ground plan for SS. Luca e Martina, gory. Such an objection can nevertheless
see Noehles, op. cit., p. 167. Noehles's attempt easily be confuted, because the polygonal
to establish a relationship with Carlo eight-sided and the circular church types are
Fontana's Cappella dell'Assunta in the closely affiliated and interdependent in their
Collegio Clementino in Rome must, however, development (cf. Hager, 'Zwillingskirchen',
be regarded as erroneous for the reason op. cit., pp. 26Iff.).
mentioned above (see n. 37). 56 De Hornedo, op. cit., p. 410.
 67

a-Elevation of a project for a college by Pompeo Ferrari. Rome, Accademia di S. Luca (p. 286)

b-Ground-plan of the project P1. 67a (p. 286)

 68

CourtesyDepartment of Western Art, Ashmolean Museum

b-Ground-plan of a chapel by Carlo Fontana.

Oxford, Ashmolean Museum (p. 285)

a-Detail of the church from the ground-plan

P1. 65a (p. 287)

a
Photo Franco Cisterna

c-Ground-plan of a church. Copy by Bernardo d-Ground-plan for the Cappella Cibo at S. Maria
Antonio Vittone after Carlo Fontana. Paris, del Popolo in Rome by Carlo Fontana. Rome,
Musie des Arts Decoratifs (p. 287) Biblioteca dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia
e Storia dell'Arte (p. 288)
 CARLO FONTANA AND LOYOLA 289
Unlike the inside, where Fontana's plans were changed substantially, the
elevation of the exterior, as far as can be judged from the ground plan (P1.65a)
and the visual evidence, was realized in the manner envisaged by Fontana, and
it therefore reveals its Roman origin more clearly than the interior. The most
remarkable feature of the Santuario de Loyola is the manner in which the
building is sited in its landscape (P1. 64a); this has already been emphasized
by •Vittkower57 and it is the more surprising since Fontana himself never
apparently went to Spain. The vigorous forward movement of the convex
central projection, punctuated by its three huge arcaded openings,58 and
oriented towards the township of Azpeitia, is related to the long vista across
the valley of the Urola river, whilst the heavy dome appears at a certain dis-
tance to be the vertical culmination not only of the markedly horizontal college
building, but also of the chain of mountains in the background, which seem
to echo its structure with attenuated accents.
Advantages like these must have convinced de Noyelle, who had at that
time perhaps the most informed opinion in Rome, of the suitability of
Fontana's project.

Pennsylvania State University

51 Wittkower, Art andArchitecture,

op.cit., p. see Jos6 Ramon Eguillor S. J., 'Intervenci6n
245. de Churriguera en la construcci6n de la
58 For the problems connected with the Basilica de Loyola' (in the press).
construction of the arcades of the portico,
 64

a-Pietro Testa, preparatory drawing for P1. 6ob. New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, No. IV, I8oE
(P. 269)

b-Santuario de Loyola, general view (pp. 280, 284n., 286, 289)