Palermo's Casa Professa – or Church of the Gesù – is one of the most important masterpieces of Baroque art in Sicily. The building is enhanced by incredible decorations in marble and stucco, which according to American art historian Donald Garstang, "belong to the world of unleashed fancy." The entire decor was created almost entirely in the 17th century, overhauling the original designs by Jesuit Natale Masuccio.

Francesco Abbate has noted that between 1658 and 1660, the pilaster strips were decorated with "arabesques pushed to the limit of a swirling twist". A few years later, focus shifted to the Japanese Martyrs' Chapel, "where decorative paroxysm reached its height: the festive effect is also augmented by the stuccos on the vault ceiling, coming down to blend with the walls."

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Fonte: Italian Ways