The sculptor Alessandro Algardi came from Bologna and was based in Rome. He succeeded Gianlorenzo Bernini as papal court sculptor in 1644, with the accession of Pope Innocent X. His most important commission was the relief (1446-53) of the Meeting of Leo I and Attila that Innocent X commissioned for St Peter’s.
Foligno
Crucifix (1635)
This fine ivory figure of the crucified Christ on a wooden cross, which is attributed to Alessandro Algardi, passed to the Cathedral Chapter as part of the Roscioli bequest in 1703 and is
now in the Museo Diocesano. It is almost certainly the crucifix that was recorded as an item of expenditure by Giovanni Maria Roscioli in 1635.
Perugia
Bust of Elisbetta Cantucci (1648)
Baldo Coli commissioned this fine bust as part of the funerary monument of his wife, Elisbetta Cantucci in
San Domenico. The monument is lost but the relief is now on the right pilaster of the apse. It is traditionally attributed to Alessandro Algardi, although modern scholars tend to attribute it to one of his followers.
St Mary Magdalene (17th century)
This painted papier-mâché figure, which is attributed to Alessandro Algardi, formed part of the collection of the art historian Valentino Martinelli and is exhibited in
Palazzo della Penna. It is a copy of the bronze figure (1634) that Algardi executed for the the
reliquary of St Mary Magdalene in the Basilica di Saint Maximin, La Sainte Baume, Provence.
Spoleto
St Philip Neri (ca. 1640)
This bust, which is attributed to Alessandro Algardi, came from the sacristy of San Filippo Neri. It is based on the upper part of the figure of the saint in the group (1636-8) of St Philip Neri and an angel in the sacristy of Santa Maria Vallicella, Rome. It is now in the Museo Diocesano.
