Digitized Glory of St. Ignatius, Andrea Pozzo's spectacular masterpiece

The masterpiece that Andrea Pozzo (Trent, 1642 - Vienna, 1709) painted on the vault of the church of St . Ignatius in Rome, the Glory of St. Ignatius, becomes accessible in very high definition: the digitization of the great work bears the signature of Haltadefinizione and was carried out in the year that marks the 500th anniversary of the conversion of Ignatius of Loyola.

Pozzo, also a member of the Society of Jesus, was an accomplished painter and theorist of perspective, and quickly became one of the most representative figures of the late Baroque in Europe. Among the many works he executed, the fresco depicting the Glory of St. Ignatius (created between 1685 and 1694) makes him one of the greatest exponents of Baroque decoration. In the ceiling, the artist brings his theoretical studies to life through the characteristic Baroque breakthrough-illusionistic “from below up.” The entire frescoed surface of the vault was acquired by Haltadefinizione with gigapixel technology under a concession from the Fondo Edifici di Culto (Fec), the monument’s owner. Every detail of the masterpiece can now be admired in very high definition on Haltadefinizione’s website. Thanks to the digital image, the result of the sophisticated filming techniques studied by Haltadefinizione, it is possible to enlarge the fresco dozens of times and always maintain very high definition.

“In the year of the world celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius,” says Luca Ponzio, founder of Haltadefinizione, “we join the commemorations by offering the opportunity for all art lovers to discover Andrea Pozzo’s fresco in digital format, and thus encourage the dissemination and knowledge of this spectacular masterpiece.”

The vault still shows the preparatory drawing: frescoing a large surface implied transferring the drawing using technical expedients such as squaring, which made it possible to decorate flat surfaces by building the spatial layout of the fresco in a grid, and thus enlarge the preparatory study out of proportion. In some places it is still possible to make out the carvings, as in the area of the Trinity. The fresco created by Pozzo in the Church of St. Ignatius is part of the broader project for the enhancement and accessibility of Italian cultural heritage carried out by Haltadefinizione.

Digitized Glory of St. Ignatius, Andrea Pozzo's spectacular masterpiece

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