Monday, January 23, 2017

Small Sculptures by Alessandro Algardi, 17th century

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj
terracotta bozzetto for marble bust
1640s
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of Bendetto Pamphilj
terracotta bozzetto for marble bust
ca. 1646
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654) initially trained as an artist in Bologna under the influence of Ludovico Carracci. After an early period in Mantua carving ornaments and ivory figurines for the Gonzaga, Algardi settled permanently in Rome about 1625. There, he began by restoring and creatively improving ancient sculptural fragments, following a vocational tradition that had supported a great many Roman artists over several centuries. He also developed a busy trade in carved portrait busts. These gained him his first fame, and have remained popular with collectors ever since. By the 1640s Alessandro Algardi was running a large workshop, receiving commissions from church and nobility for ambitious sculptural projects.

Alessandro Algardi
Titan
early 1650s
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
An Executioner
ca. 1634
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
St Francis of Assisi
1650s
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Two Saints 
ca. 1635
terracotta bozzetto
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Generosity
ca. 1638-43
terracotta bozzetto
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of a woman
1630s
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of a Youth
1630s
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of Lelio Frangipani
ca. 1635
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of Gaspare Mola
ca. 1635-40
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
St Peter the Apostle
before 1654
terracotta
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
St Peter the Apostle
early 1650s
bronze
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg

Alessandro Algardi
Portrait of Maria Cerri Capranica
ca. 1640
marble
Getty Museum, Los Angeles