Lot Essay
These putti are of the same model as the set in the Wallace Collection, two of which are identical inpose while two others are shown playing a flute and a horn. (J.G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues, Sculpture, London, 1931, p. 75-76, s. 202-205).
Further casts of this celebrated model are recorded in both 18th and 19th Century sales, including those from the collections of Crozat de Thiers, sold 26 February - 27 March 1772, lot 905, Blondel de Gagny, sold 10-24 December 1776 and 8-22 January 1777, lot 480, and the Demidoffs at San Donato, sold 15 March - 10 April 1880, lot 480.
Alessandro Algardi (1596-1654), the son of a silk merchant, was educated in Bologna under the guidance of the painter Lodovico Carracci and the sculptor Giulio Cesare Conventi. In 1622 he was summoned to the court of Duke Ferdinand and in 1625, while in Rome, he was employed by Cardinal Ludovisi, to whom he dedicated his first work, an allegory to Sicurezza depicting an infant on a turtle.
After Bernini had fallen from Pope Innocent X's favour, Algardi obtained several important commissions for St. Peter's, Rome, of which 'The encounter of St. Leo the Great and Attila' was perhaps the most illustrious.
Further casts of this celebrated model are recorded in both 18th and 19th Century sales, including those from the collections of Crozat de Thiers, sold 26 February - 27 March 1772, lot 905, Blondel de Gagny, sold 10-24 December 1776 and 8-22 January 1777, lot 480, and the Demidoffs at San Donato, sold 15 March - 10 April 1880, lot 480.
Alessandro Algardi (1596-1654), the son of a silk merchant, was educated in Bologna under the guidance of the painter Lodovico Carracci and the sculptor Giulio Cesare Conventi. In 1622 he was summoned to the court of Duke Ferdinand and in 1625, while in Rome, he was employed by Cardinal Ludovisi, to whom he dedicated his first work, an allegory to Sicurezza depicting an infant on a turtle.
After Bernini had fallen from Pope Innocent X's favour, Algardi obtained several important commissions for St. Peter's, Rome, of which 'The encounter of St. Leo the Great and Attila' was perhaps the most illustrious.