A Must-See Church

Here are some pictures I took in Rome of the Portuguese Church of Saint Anthony of Padua. The church is hard to find, located on an inconspicuous side street not far from my alma mater, Santa Croce. Hard to locate, it certainly is (a fact somewhat ironic for Saint Anthony's church, no?) but I always believed it to be one of Rome's finest churches; relatively small and intimate yet intoxicatingly Baroque with its exquisite artwork from floor to ceiling. All of the marble is genuine and the detail of the gilding in the dome and ceiling takes your breath away. I wish I had grabbed more pictures. The church frequently hosts Classical music recitals. Experiencing such visual and audible beauty should be enough to convince any atheist of God's existence. My question to the unbeliever: Where does the artist's inspiration come from that results in such things as these?

Please click on the images to get a better look, especially the pictures of the dome and gilded ceiling.