. Inside, the main entrance is located on the short axis of the church and directly faces the high altar. The oval form of the main congregational space of the church is defined by the wall, pilasters and entablature, which frame the side chapels, and the golden dome above. This dramatic visual narrative is sustained not only upwards through the space of the church but employs different artistic modes. Bernini combined painting, sculpture and architecture into a synthesis to create visually the idea of the apotheosis of St Andrew in this spiritual theater. He used a similar synthesis of artistic modes in his design of the
Ecstasy of Saint Theresa in the Cornaro Chapel of
Santa Maria della Vittoria. This synthesis has been referred to as the ‘unity of the visual arts’.
Chapels First chapel on the right, the Chapel of
St Francis Xavier houses three canvases by
Baciccio depicting the
baptism,
preaching and
Death of St Francis Xavier (1705). In the ceiling,
Filippo Bracci painted
The Glory of St Francis Xavier. The Chapel of the Passion, also known as the Chapel of the Flagellation, has three canvases with scenes from the
Passion of Jesus Christ by
Giacinto Brandi: a
Deposition, a
Flagellation, and a
Road to Calvary (1682). To the left of the main altar, the Chapel of
Saint Stanislaus Kostka houses the shrine of the saint, an urn of bronze and
lapis lazuli made in 1716. The painting above the funerary monument
Madonna with child and Saint Stanislaus Kostka is by
Carlo Maratta (1687) and a ceiling fresco of
Glory of the Saints by
Giovanni Odazzi. The last chapel, dedicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, houses the paintings
Madonna and child and Saints and
Adoration of Kings and Shepherds by
Ludovico Mazzanti, with a ceiling with
Glory of the Angels by
Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari. Between the Chapel St Stanislaus Kostka and the main altar is a side chapel with a large crucifix. It houses the tomb of King
Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia and Piedmont, who abdicated in 1815 to enter the
Society of Jesus and then lived in the Jesuit novitiate, adjacent to the church, until his death in 1819.
Burials •
Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia and Piedmont • Shrine of St
Stanislaus Kostka •
Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne, known as
Cardinal de Bouillon ==Rooms of St Stanislaus Kostka in the Jesuit novitiate==