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| Alessandro Algardi Portrait of Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj terracotta bozzetto for marble bust 1640s Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| 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.
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| Alessandro Algardi Titan early 1650s terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi An Executioner ca. 1634 terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi St Francis of Assisi 1650s terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Two Saints ca. 1635 terracotta bozzetto Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Generosity ca. 1638-43 terracotta bozzetto Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Portrait of a woman 1630s terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Portrait of a Youth 1630s terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Portrait of Lelio Frangipani ca. 1635 terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Portrait of Gaspare Mola ca. 1635-40 terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi St Peter the Apostle before 1654 terracotta Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi St Peter the Apostle early 1650s bronze Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Alessandro Algardi Portrait of Maria Cerri Capranica ca. 1640 marble Getty Museum, Los Angeles |