An illusory Space for Prayer. The Ancient Private Chapel of the University Palace in Genoa

The contribution presents studies on the decoration of the ancient Domestic Oratory (or Private Chapel) of the University Palace of Genoa (former Jesuit College). The frescoes and stuccos were created between 1704 and 1709 by Domenico Parodi: a painter trained in sculpture and interested in architectural settings. The theme of the decoration is based on the celebration of saints and martyrs of the Jesuit order, inside the place of prayer reserved for the Fathers. The real space, with a rectangular plan, takes on more courtly forms thanks to the painted perspective architecture and the contribution of the reliefs. The Oratory is made up of the sum of two cubic volumes with a bipartition underlined by the presence of two illusory umbrella vaults. The documentary and material investigations shown in this contribution are aimed at hypothesizing a reconstruction of the illusory space. The rectangular plan, in fact, is transformed by two painted exedra terminals covered by basins. The suggestion is effective thanks to the painted architectural members and their accurate perspective representation, in addition to the reliefs that protrude from the surface of the walls and vault. Despite the knowledge that there is a lack of references that would allow a univocal reconstruction, the perspective restitution can constitute a confirmation of the univocal attribution of the decorative project to Parodi, capable, without the aid of a quadraturist painter, of managing the illusory spatial configuration through the union of the arts.