JESUIT CHURCH, VIENNA

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.

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’oeil dome, painted on a flat part of the ceiling, is a real masterpiece.