Where to See Andrea Pozzo

Andrea Pozzo was an Italian painter, architect, sculptor, theatrical stage designer, and art theoretician. He was also a Jesuit, becoming an architect and a painter through his own genius, rather than formal instruction.

Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuit lay brother, was an Italian painter, architect, sculptor, theatrical stage designer, and art theoretician. Though not strictly an architect, his two-volume treatise, *Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum*, published in 1693^[1] and 1698, had a considerable effect on architects across Europe. Translations appeared in English, German, and Flemish; a manuscript version even appeared in Chinese. The treatise includes diagrams for drawing the orders in perspective, along with designs for altars, tabernacles, temporary structures for festivals, all designed with complex curvilinear plans and architectural features, in a manner similar to Antonio Gherardi. Pozzo's ceiling fresco in Sant'Ignazio in Rome represents a high point in Roman church interior decoration. Called to Vienna in 1702, he decorated the Jesuit church (now the University Church) and painted the ceiling of the salone in the Liechtenstein Summer Palace (1704-1707^[1]). His work influenced Austrian architects and decorators.

The passages suggest that Andrea Pozzo developed a good style in colouring and design by copying Venetian and Lombard masters. He improved his style in Rome.