Kark Sant'Ignazio Di Loyola - Pistoia - Tuscany

The church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola was built from 1647 on the initiative of the Rospigliosi family to house the Jesuits, after a design by the Jesuit architect Tommaso Ramignani. Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi, later Pope Clement IX, played a central role in the interior decoration.

In 1668, Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed the high altar. The large canvas of the high altar depicting the Appearance of Christ to Saint Ignatius by Pietro da Cortona dates from 1670.

After the dissolution of the Society of Jesus in 1773, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit took over, which in turn was dissolved in 1783. After extensive consolidation and restoration work, the church was reopened for worship in 1988.

The interior also houses valuable paintings, including the Assumption of the Virgin by Giuseppe Nasini, Saint Lucy by Giovanni Battista Gigli and the Virgin Annunciate, which were commissioned by the noble family of Count Manni for the nearby church of San Biagio, also known as Santa Maria in Borgo Strada, and were taken from there years ago.

In the Banchieri Chapel, the first on the left when entering, is the valuable painting on canvas by Ottaviano Dandini, Full-length Christ with Jesuit Saints (after 1726).

Willem Vandenameele