Graz and Rome – St. Peter’s Basilica as a Model for St. Catherine’s Church and Mausoleum

Abstract

The Mausoleum in Graz was built after 1614 by Giovanni Pietro de Pomis on commission of Archduke Ferdinand (since 1619 Emperor Ferdinand II). The first design of the façade was influenced by Andrea Palladio’s church fa- çades. After 1621 the façade was raised by an attic storey, which runs around the entire building, and crowned with a triangular pediment, which is vaulted by a mighty segmental arch. This motif, first used by Michelangelo, can also be found above the entrance portals of the Cathedral of Reggio Emilia and Il Gesù in Rome. The structure of the outer walls of the building can also be traced back to Michelangelo’s design of the outer walls of St. Peter’s. The rich decorative forms are of Milanese or Lombard character. Jesuit Wilhelm Lamormaini was the mediator of the Roman architectural forms. Active in Graz as an advisor and confessor to Ferdinand and the archducal family he likely held a decisive role in the transformation of the Mausoleum into a Monument of the Counter-Reformation.