The effects of clouds

Posted on 21 March 2007 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The skyline of Rome has fascinating particulars.  None is more intriguing than the lantern of the Church of St. Ivo, designed by Borromini. 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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4 Comments

  1. Oratorian says:
    21 March 2007 at 9:30 PM

    Wow! Something changed, but I like it. I’d forgotten what my username WAS on this site! Yes, this is remarkable architecture. It reminds me so much of one of Hawksmoor’s spires in London, St. George’s Bloomsbury, for instance, or St. Giles in the Fields. If we ever do have to come to the rescue of the Church of England, inheriting the London churches of Wren and Hawksmoor will be a worthwhile undertaking. They were made for better liturgy than they get these days. I think the Traditional mass would work splendidly in them (it worked well enough in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral summer before last!). Surely Hawksmoor had studied some of Boromini’s work, the correspondance here is marked, although this is more daring even than anything in London. I love it!! I didn’t know Rome had anything with as much individuality as that…not that St. Peter’s isn’t imaginative enough, but domes aren’t the only way to top a church! Bravo Borromini!

  2. Oratorian says:
    21 March 2007 at 10:56 PM

    Okay, after a little research, now I’m not bragging or anything, but I’m just an amateur churchspotter, and did I hit the Hawksmoore connection spot on or what? This is from the “Friends of Christchurch Spitalfields” site.

    “No one understood better than Hawksmoor the dynamic deployment of architectural form or the dramatic possibilities of light and shade. The complex forms of the London churches, whether in internal planning or in external embellishment, are as eloquent as anything by Borromini, the Italian architect with whom Hawksmoor most obviously invites comparison.’

    Colvin, Biographical Dictionary”

    Quite so! Pardon me for drawing attention to my own untrained, but seemingly acute sensibility to architectural influence, but I’m feeling rather smug about it just now!

  3. NC says:
    22 March 2007 at 12:31 AM

    Love it!
    I often wondered where/which Church it is atop when I had seen it from my high up window when staying at a certain clerical residence in Rome. One imagines the figures crying “Wheeeeeeeeeee!” on the helter skelter!

  4. animadversor says:
    22 March 2007 at 11:31 AM

    If you think that’s spectacular, try going inside—not especially easy to manage—and looking up.

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