Algardi, Alessandro (
July 31,
1598-
June 10,
1654), Italian sculptor, was born at Bologna in 1598. While he was attending the school of the Caracci his preference for the plastic art became evident,
and he placed himself under the instruction of the sculptor
Conventi. At the age of twenty he was brought under the
notice of Duke Ferdinand of Mantua, who gave him several
commissions. He was also much employed about the same period
by jewelers and others in modelling in gold, silver and
ivory. After a short residence in Venice he went to
Rome in
1625 with an introduction from the duke of Mantua to the pope's
nephew, Cardinal Ludovisi, who employed him for a time in
the restoration of ancient statues. The death of the duke of
Mantua left him to his own resources, and for several years
he earned a precarious maintenance from these restorations
and the commissions of goldsmiths and jewelers. In 1640 he
executed for Pietro Buoncompagni his first work in marble, a
colossal statue of San Filippo Neri, with kneeling angels.
Immediately after, he produced a similar group, representing
the execution of St Paul, for the church of the Barnabite
Fathers in Bologna. These works, displaying great technical
skill, though with considerable exaggeration of expression
and attitude, at once established Algardi's reputation, and
other commissions followed in rapid succession. The turning
point in Algardi's fortune was the accession of Innocent
X., of the Bolognese house of Panfili, to the papal throne in
1644. He was employed by Camino Panfili, nephew of the pontiff,
to design the Villa Doria Panfili outside the San Pancrazio
gate. The most important of Algardi's other works were the
monument of Leo XI., a bronze statue of Innocent X. for the
capitol, and, above all, La Fuega d'Attila, the largest
alto-relievo in the world, the two principal figures being
about 10 ft. high. In 1650 Algardi met Velasquez, who
obtained some interesting orders for his Italian companion in
Spain. Thus there are four chimneys by Algardi in the palace
of Aranjuez, where also the figures on the fountain of Neptune
were executed by him. The Augustine monastery at Salamanca
contains the tomb of the count and countess de Monterey, which
was also the work of Algardi. From an artistic point of view,
he was most successful in his portrait-statues and groups of
children, where he was obliged to follow nature most closely.
In his later years he became very avaricious and amassed a
great fortune. He died in
Rome on the 10th of June 1654.
See Le arti di Bologna disegnate da A. Caracci ed intagliati da
S. Giulini, con' assistenza d' Alessandro A. Algardi (1740).
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