Nestled in the center of Rome, the Baroque church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini stands out not only for its architecture but also for its mysterious, unfinished ceiling. Unlike the typical Baroque frescoes, this space remains a blank canvas.
The Baroque artist Philippe Casanova together with Andrea Masci and his team at Civita Mostre e Musei sought to breathe life into the ceiling, blending sacred tradition with contemporary art and technology.
Philippe Casanova shared, “I was particularly interested in this church because it’s one of the churches of Saint Philip Neri. Saint Philip Neri has always been a fundamental reference for me since I arrived in Rome. And since that day, I began to reflect on how I could imagine and develop a composition for this ceiling that would have a close connection with Saint Philip Neri. And so I came up with the idea of depicting the pilgrimage associated with him, known as the Seven Churches Pilgrimage.”
The painter sketched various stages of this pilgrimage, all of which would be represented on the ceiling. Among them, for instance, it shows the pilgrims leaving Santa Maria in Vallicella following Saint Philip Neri. They cross the Ponte Sant’Angelo, known as the Bridge of the Angels, and then go to St. Peter’s Basilica. Above the churches, a red sail opens, which symbolizes revelation. At the center of the composition is the Holy Trinity. It is an explosion of light that invades space and the pilgrims themselves, pushing away the shadows.
“I’m trying to make an iconographic proposal that is in perfect harmony with the history of this church and its spirituality,” Casanova stated. “And so, this video mapping, which was done by my friends at Civita, is for me an opportunity to share this proposal, this project, and to allow people to get an idea of what kind of effect it could have.”
Andrea Masci, Chief Concept Designer HUB at Civita, and his team transformed the static sketch into a dynamic, immersive experience, projecting the sketch on the vault of the church and combining the movements of the painting with original music created especially for this project.
Masci noted, “The Paradisus project is an example of what we, as Civita, aim to do: bring people closer to art. We are creating a unique experience where the pilgrim can approach content that becomes contemporary, without losing the creative aspect and without diminishing the sacred essence of the work.”
Transforming a blank ceiling into a canvas for storytelling comprises both artistic and technical complexities.
Masci explained, “The technical challenge was adapting a painting that was originally a sketch meant for a future mural on the ceiling, but not initially suited to be projected. So, in addition to having to reconstruct it from a storytelling and storyboard perspective—telling the story of what happens within the painting—we also had to bring it to life.”
The message of the Paradisus project’s is that art, in all its forms, has the power to transcend time, place, and technology, uniting the faithful and the curious onlooker in a shared experience of revelation.
Adapted by Jacob Stein
