Rome, Italy - Sculpture inside Gesu Church (Chiesa del Gesu di Roma)

Religion overthrowing Heresy

Yet another incredible sculpture.  You can click on the picture do get a full screen version.  "This statue shows the Church as an angry nun hauling back with a whip and just spanking a bunch of miserable Protestants. The serpent (Luther) is being stepped upon while the angry cherub rips pages out of a heretical book.  Not too subtle."  [Rick Steves]

This is found inside of the Gesu Church (Chiesa del Gesu di Roma).
Click here for the website.
I took a video of the inside of the Church so that you could see how incredible it was. You can see it on another post. The outside was very plain.  But when you realize that this was a first: "The center of the Jesuit order and the best symbol of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Gesu (jay-zoo) is packed with overblown art and underappreciated history." [Rick Steves]  The Church is the model for other churches to follow. 

From the tourist perspective, there were no signs, no lines, no arrow saying "enter here".  We looked at a grey building. Kalen wanted to go in because he had read about it.  (He attended Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, which is Jesuit.) We entered a small door and were immediately overpowered by an extremely vibrant and beautiful baroque (lots of gold) interior.

Be patient with the video. It may take some extra time to load but is well worth the wait.