Attributed to Alessandro Algardi; 17th century.

Attributed to ALESSANDRO ALGARDI (Bologna, 1595 – Rome, 1654); 17th century.
“Virgin.”
Gilded bronze.
Measurements: 46 x 16 x 13 cm.

This sculpture offers an intriguing insight into the religious and aesthetic sensibilities of 17th-century Italy, at a time when Baroque sculpture reached extraordinary formal and expressive richness. The work combines the solemnity characteristic of Marian iconography with a refined sculptural sensibility, in which the harmony of proportions and the treatment of volumes take on special significance. The rendering of the drapery, with its distinctly sculptural character, lends depth and dynamism to the composition without compromising its compositional balance.

The small scale and the choice of gilded bronze also place the work within the realm of devotional and cabinet sculpture, where pieces of this kind served both a religious function and catered to collectors’ interest in objects of meticulous artistic craftsmanship. Its conception and formal language allow it to be placed within the cultural and sculptural context in which Algardi’s work developed.

Alessandro Algardi (Bologna, 1595 – Rome, 1654) was one of the most prominent sculptors of the Italian Baroque. Trained in Bologna within an artistic milieu closely tied to the Carracci tradition, he studied sculpture under Giulio Cesare Conventi before moving to Rome around 1625. There, he enjoyed the patronage of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi and forged a brilliant career in the service of important ecclesiastical patrons, becoming one of the central figures of 17th-century Roman sculpture. Although his career has historically been linked to his rivalry with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Algardi developed a style of his own, characterized by compositional clarity, the nobility of his figures’ expressions, and a unique synthesis of classical tradition and Baroque sensibility. In contrast to Bernini’s expansive movement and dramatic intensity, his sculpture exhibits a more restrained articulation, in which formal elegance and the delicacy of the modeling take center stage. His work exerted a notable influence on the development of Italian and European Baroque sculpture. Alessandro Algardi’s works can be seen in major collections and monuments in Italy and abroad, including the Vatican Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Prado Museum, among others.