Head of St. Paul
- Object belonging
- One's own
- Category
- Terracotta sculpture
- City
- Rome
- Location
- Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia
- Specific location
- Room 21
- Inventory
- PV 13228
- Material and technique
- Terracotta
- Author
- Alessandro Algardi (1595-1654)
- Dating
- 1634-1635
- Dimensions
- 10.5x8 cm.
- Origin
- Gorga Collection (1948)
- Image copyright
- SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma
Short description
This is the first study for the head of St. Paul in the Beheading for the main altar of church of San Paolo in Bologna. The work was overseen by Cardinal Bernardino Spada and his brother, the Oratorian Virgilio, one of the most active patrons of the time. Gianlorenzo Bernini was commissioned in 1634 to design the main altar and Alessandro Algardi was tasked with completing the sculptural group, carried out from 1638 to 1643. This first study examines the saint’s noble and melancholy expression, seeking to find the correct point of view for the head, which is almost to be seen in profile, given that the group would be seen frontally in the colonnaded aedicule. The sculptor, then, focuses on the right side of the face, omitting to finish the left, where the eye is left hollow, as it is turned towards the wall of the apse. It is finely modelled, with lines on the surface serving to subtly depict wrinkles, while a sensitive rendering of the bone structure is achieved by hollowing out the clay. This study, though small, demonstrates Algardi’s skill in creating clear and refined forms.
Maria Giulia Barberini
