Discover Sant'Andrea al Quirinale

Sant'Andrea al Quirinale is the church of the old Jesuit novitiate on the Quirinal hill, and the work Gian Lorenzo Bernini is said to have rated above his own others. Turismo Roma records that it was built from 1658 at the commission of Pope Alexander VII Chigi and Cardinal Camillo Pamphilj, on the site of an earlier building, and that Bernini thought it his best for the perfect balance of architecture, sculpture and painting.

The reference work dates the commission to 1658, the structure to 1661 and the interior decoration to 1670. The plan is an oval whose main entrance sits on the short axis, directly facing the high altar; outside, an aedicular pedimented frame holds a semicircular porch on two Ionic columns. An oval cylinder encases the dome and large volutes carry the lateral thrust.

Over the altar hangs the Martyrdom of Saint Andrew of 1668 by the French painter Guillaume Courtois; above it Antonio Raggi's white stucco Andrew ascends on clouds toward the golden dome. A chapel holds the shrine of Stanislaus Kostka, an urn of bronze and lapis lazuli of 1716.

Turismo Roma publishes no visiting hours. The Jesuit community's own site gives Tuesday to Sunday, 09.00-12.00 and 15.00-18.00, closed Mondays, with Sunday Mass at 10.30 — worth confirming there before the climb. No admission is charged.

An oval entered on its short axis, which is the whole idea. A conventional church is a corridor: you come in at one end and the altar is far away. Bernini turned the room ninety degrees. The main entrance sits on the short axis directly facing the high altar, so the altar is close and the oval opens to either side — a space you take in at once instead of walking down.

The front answers the street rather than a piazza. An aedicular pedimented frame holds, at its centre, a semicircular porch carried on two Ionic columns that steps forward over the pavement. It is a small gesture on a narrow road, and it is the only part of the building that moves outward; everything else moves up.

Above, an oval cylinder encases the dome and large volutes transfer the lateral thrust — the structural problem of a dome that is not round, solved in the open where it can be seen. Inside, the dome is coffered and gilded and narrows along its ribs to the lantern.

The sculpture is doing architectural work. Over the altar, Antonio Raggi's white stucco Andrew is shown ascending on clouds toward the golden dome, and the dome's own stucco figures climb between the ribs after him. Painting, sculpture and architecture are pointed at one place — which is precisely the balance Turismo Roma says Bernini was pleased with.

Twelve years from commission to finished room, and only three of them structural. Bernini took the commission in 1658 and the church stood by 1661; the decoration then ran to 1670. That split is the real history of the building — the shell was quick, the surfaces were not.

The site decided the plan. The Jesuit novitiate held a narrow plot on the Quirinal facing a street, with no room for a nave, so Bernini used an oval and put the door on its short side. What could have been a cramped chapel became a room that reads as generous because it is used sideways.

The engineering is on show. An oval dome pushes outward unevenly, and rather than hide the remedy Bernini encased it in an oval cylinder and set large volutes to carry the thrust, where they read as ornament. The same instinct runs inside: the ribs that hold the dome up are the lines that drive your eye to the lantern.

The finishing was a long collaboration. Guillaume Courtois delivered the altarpiece in 1668; Antonio Raggi made the stucco, including the Andrew above the pediment and the figures in the dome. The Stanislaus Kostka shrine was still being enriched in 1716, half a century after the church was declared done.

When is it open? No timetable is published that can be relied on. Turismo Roma gives none in either language and says to contact the church. The Jesuit community's own site shows Tuesday to Sunday, 09.00-12.00 and 15.00-18.00, closed Mondays, Sunday Mass at 10.30 — worth checking there the week you travel.

Does it cost anything? No. No admission is published by either source.

Is this really Bernini's favourite building? Turismo Roma says he considered it his best work for the balance of architecture, sculpture and painting, and the reference work records his son Domenico saying he sat inside it for hours in old age. The page reports both attributions rather than asserting it flatly.

Why does it feel so wide? The plan is an oval entered on its short axis, so you face the altar across the narrow dimension and the room opens to either side.

Who made the figure above the altar? Antonio Raggi, in white stucco — Saint Andrew ascending on clouds toward the dome.

Who painted the altarpiece? Guillaume Courtois, a French painter, in 1668.

What else is nearby? Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, at Via del Quirinale 23 against this church's 30 — the two rivals of the Roman Baroque, two minutes apart.

How long does it take? About 30 minutes.