"Dome" of Sant'Ignazio, Rome

Posted by MadScientist (Düsseldorf, Germany) on 31 March 2008 in Art & Design.

As I've written in an earlier posting, there are still more surprises to be discovered in Sant'Ignazio. This is the false Dome, seen from a position that is marked at the floor to give the best three-dimensional impression of a structure that isn't real but an almost perfect illusion. The ceiling is indeed flat.

Comments (9)

MaryB from Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Goodness me! this is wonderful, I had thought it was a real dome till I read your commentary. You've captured the illusion beautifully MS.

31 Mar 2008 4:37am

@MaryB: There's at least one other church in Vienna, where Pozzo used the same effect.

Japanalia from Yokohama, Japan

The more I look at it, the more I find it unbelievable! (thank you so much for the explanations, without which many of us would be lost!)

31 Mar 2008 7:06am

@Japanalia: Just to show these wonders would only scratch the surface, and I'm much too interested of these things by myself to let this happen :-)

Eleftheria, 9 years old, from Athens, Greece

Fantastic!

31 Mar 2008 9:25am

@Eleftheria, 9 years old,: Have a look at my response to MaryB's comment: there's another fine example for this kind of art.

Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Slovakia

It's quite a good illusion but I still sensed the flatness before I read your commentary.

31 Mar 2008 3:32pm

@Michael Skorulski: I think this is because of the zoom I used here. Look at it at a distance of 20 mtrs. and it will be more difficult not to get misleaded :-)

Tracey from Baltimore, United States

You are lying! No way this is flat! Okay, so I have no choice but to believe you, as you have never lied before that I know of, but as you can see, I am impressed! And I ramble when I am impressed! High 5 on this one!

31 Mar 2008 4:54pm

@Tracey: Mad scientists never lie :-)
(I have anothert shot taken from a different position where you can see that it's really flat.)

Nina from Hamburg, Germany

Simply wonderful.

31 Mar 2008 10:30pm

@Nina: Dankeschön :)

Twelvebit from Victoria, United States

It's a pretty good illusion but stands out here probably because the actual lighting is not at the same orientation, or of the same intensity, as the lighting of the painting. Even the best illusion like this can only look its most realistic for one brief collection of moments during the day. I've got a fabulous book on Hollywood matte and glass painting, which basically uses the same technique as the dome here. They painted the matte to match the natural light at the time the scene was being filmed, so it was only filmable for a short period of time each day.

1 Apr 2008 9:30am

@Twelvebit: That's an interesting information and shows that techniques like this are still in use. The Dome looks more natural at a greater distance, by the way. If you're standing on the floor and watch the ceiling with several meters distance it looks much more natural.