Santa Maria in Vallicella in the context of "San Carlo ai Catinari"

The Church of the Gesù (Italian: Chiesa del Gesù, pronounced [ˈkjɛːza del dʒeˈzu]), officially named Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù (English: Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus), is a church located at Piazza del Gesù in the Pigna rione of Rome, Italy. It is the mother church of the Society of Jesus (best known as Jesuits). With its façade, described as "the first truly baroque façade", the church served as a model for innumerable Jesuit churches all over the world, especially in Central Europe and in Portuguese colonies. Its paintings in the nave, crossing, and side chapels became models for art in Jesuit churches throughout Italy and Europe, as well as those of other orders. The Church of the Gesù is one of the great 17th-century preaching churches built by Counter-Reformation orders like the Jesuits in the Centro Storico of Rome – the others being Sant'Ignazio, also of the Jesuits, San Carlo ai Catinari of the Barnabites, Sant'Andrea della Valle of the Theatines, and the Chiesa Nuova of the Oratorians.

First conceived in 1551 by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the Spanish founder of the Society of Jesus active during the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Gesù was also the home of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus until the wide suppression of the order in 1773. The church having been subsequently regained by the Jesuits, the adjacent palazzo is now a residence for Jesuit scholars from around the world studying at the Gregorian University in preparation for ordination to the priesthood.

Pietro da Cortona (Italian: [ˈpjɛːtro da (k)korˈtoːna]; 1 November 1596 or 1597 – 16 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important designer of interior decorations.

He was born Pietro Berrettini, but is primarily known by the name of his native town of Cortona in Tuscany. He worked mainly in Rome and Florence. He is best known for his frescoed ceilings, such as the vault of the salone or main salon of the Palazzo Barberini in Rome and carried out extensive painting and decorative schemes for the Medici family in Florence and for the Oratorian fathers at the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome. He also painted numerous canvases. Only a limited number of his architectural projects were built, but nonetheless they are as distinctive and as inventive as those of his rivals.

Sant'Andrea della Valle is a titular church and minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the seat of the general curia of the Theatines and is located on the Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele (facing facade) and Corso Rinascimento. It is one of the great 17th century preaching churches built by Counter-Reformation orders in the Centro Storico (the others being San Carlo ai Catinari of the Barnabites, The Gesù and Sant'Ignazio of the Jesuits, and the Chiesa Nuova of the Oratorians).

The Entombment of Christ is an oil on canvas painting by Caravaggio, from 1603–1604. It was created for the second chapel on the right in Santa Maria in Vallicella (the Chiesa Nuova), a church built for the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. A copy of the painting is now in the chapel, and the original is in the Vatican Pinacoteca. The painting has been copied by artists as diverse as Rubens, Fragonard, Géricault and Cézanne.

The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius (Italian: Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio, Latin: Ecclesia Sancti Ignatii a Loyola in Campo Martio) is a Latin Catholic titular church, of deaconry rank, dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome, Italy. Built in Baroque style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as the chapel of the adjacent Roman College, which moved in 1584 to a new larger building and was renamed the Pontifical Gregorian University. It is one of the great 17th century preaching churches built by Counter-Reformation orders in the Centro Storico (the others being The Gesù, also of the Jesuits, San Carlo ai Catinari of the Barnabites, Sant'Andrea della Valle of the Theatines, and the Chiesa Nuova of the Oratorians).