ANDREA POZZO, Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum, part I, figure 100: Drawing of the whole work
“When my book was being printed, Sir, I still had to complete the Vault of St. Ignatius; that’s the reason why I just showed you the architectural project. Now I can show you the whole project, so that You will be able to comprehend more deeply the allegorical meaning of each character.
My idea consisted in showing how much St. Ignatius and his Society have done to propagate the Christian Faith.
On the whole vault I represented a church in perspective so that it is centred upon the figures of the Trinity. A great ray springs out from the heart of Jesus and reaches St. Ignatius’ heart, then it spreads towards the four cardinal points represented by four women sat upon four monsters figuring the vices. Around these symbols there are the Jesuits and the people converted by them to Faith. On the two edges of the vault there are two symbolic figures representing St. Ignatius’ missionary zeal while sending his brothers to preach the Gospel according to the words of God written by St. Luke (Lc 12, 49): “ I came to bring the fire to the Earth, and what shall I wish but its firing?
All around them I put the Angels of the Nations tempering their swords of victory upon the vices represented with different colours, bright or pale for fear. All other characters are referred to the Holy Bible, images of the Saint’s qualities and fringes for a further representation of the main idea set into my mind.
Now everybody can understand the whole Work"
