Pozzo

Andrea Pozzo 1642 - 1709

Self-Portrait

1690s

Oil on canvas, 160 x 117 cm

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Andrea Pozzo 1642 - 1709

Allegory of the Jesuits' Missionary Work

1691-94

Fresco

Sant'Ignazio, Rome

Andrea Pozzo 1642 - 1709

Illusionistic Architecture for the Vault of San Ignazio, 1685/1690

Pen and gray and brown ink with gray wash on two joined sheets of heavy laid paper

overall: 50.4 x 91.2 cm (19 13/16 x 35 7/8 in.)

The National Gallery, Washington

Andrea Pozzo 1642 - 1709

Central Vault of Chiesa di S. Francesco Saverio "della Missione" Mondovì

The Italian Jesuit Brother, Andrea Pozzo, painter and architect, and art theoretician is best known for his grandiose frescoes using illusionistic technique called quadratura, in which architecture and fancy are intermixed. His masterpiece is the nave ceiling of the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome.

In the Self portrait above, Pozzo points to a preparatory painting on canvas for his decoration of Rome's Church of Sant'Ignazio

His masterpieces, the decoration of Rome's Jesuit churches Il Gesu and Sant'Ignazio, determined for several generations the style of internal decoration of Late Baroque churches in almost all Europe.

A new exhibition on his works is presently on in various sites in Italy : Rome, Trent and Mondovì

The website Il trionfo dell’illusione gives details.