The Jesuit Church (german: Jesuitenkirche), also known as the University Church (german: Universitätskirche), is a two-floor, double-tower church in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Influenced by early

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

principles, the church was remodeled by Andrea Pozzo between 1703 and 1705. The Jesuit Church is located on Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz, immediately adjacent to the old

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

buildings.

History

The Jesuit Church was built between 1623 and 1627 on the site of an earlier chapel, at the time when the Jesuits merged their own college with the University of Vienna's philosophy and theology faculty. The emperor broke ground for both college and church, with the church itself dedicated to Saints

Ignatius Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

and

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

. In 1703,

Brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

Andrea Pozzo, S.J., an architect, painter, and sculptor, and a master in the

quadratura Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...

, was requested by

Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

to redecorate the church. He added twin towers and reworked the façade in an early

style with narrow horizontal and vertical sections. The design of the windows, narrow niches (with statues), and the small central part of the façade deviate from the Baroque style of the towers. Pozzo died unexpectedly in 1709, just before he was to move to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, and was buried in the church. After the completion of the work, the church was re-dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

Interior

Despite its relatively austere exterior, the interior is remarkably opulent with ersatz marble pillars, gilding and a number of allegorical ceiling frescoes. The semicircular vault ceiling was divided in four bays with paintings in perspective, using illusionary techniques. Executed by Andrea Pozzo in 1703, the remarkable ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' dome, painted on a flat part of the ceiling, is a masterpiece. Wien - Jesuitenkirche, Innenansicht.JPG, Interior of Jesuit Church Wien - Jesuitenkirche, Orgelempore.JPG, Organ loft AT 119587 Jesuitenkirche Wien Innenansicht 9234.jpg, Fresco with ''

'' dome by Andrea Pozzo Jesuitenkirche(Universitätskirche), Vienna (interior).JPG, General view of interior Jesuitenkirche(Universitätskirche), Vienna (interior detail).JPG, Interior detail with organ Immediately adjacent is the Aula (great hall) of the Vienna's university, where

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's Seventh Symphony had its premiere.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control Religious buildings and structures completed in 1627 Roman Catholic church buildings in the Vicariate of Vienna City Jesuit churches Baroque architecture in Vienna Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt 1627 establishments in Austria

History

Interior

See also

References

External links