The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Jesuits. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese funded it, and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola designed it. Construction began on June 26, 1568, the church was completed in 1580, and it was consecrated on November 25, 1584. Giacomo della Porta revised the facade, which is described as the first truly baroque facade, and worked on the dome and apse. The style is Mannerist with a Baroque facade.
The plan is a single nave without aisles, flanked by identical side chapels, with shallow transepts and a dome at the crossing. The design aimed at acoustics, so that the congregation could hear sermons clearly. The church is 246 feet (75 m) long and 115 feet (35 m) wide.
Giovanni Battista Gaulli painted the ceiling fresco, Triumph of the Name of Jesus, in 1678 and 1679. Andrea Pozzo designed the Chapel of St Ignatius between 1696 and 1700.
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