A Multimedia Jesuit Event: The Celebration For St Ignatius And St Francis Xavier (Milan, 1622)

The events organized in April 1622 in Milan to celebrate the canonization of St Ignatius and St Francis Xavier clearly show how the Catholic Church of the time, the Jesuits especially, used a combination of different sensory elements to reinforce Christian belief in the congregation. The deeds of the two Saints were represented in large pictures, displayed in the Jesuit area of Milan, and were recounted by choirs singing hymns and prayers. Moreover, there was a procession of allegorical carts representing the arts taught at the local Jesuit college of Brera. The event was recorded in a Breve relatione (1622) which allows us not only to reconstruct what happened, but also to understand why the Jesuits placed such great confidence in the efficacy of this multimedial communication strategy.