Lot Essay
Two other examples of the present model are known. One, 36cm. high, which is partially gilded and silvered, is on the altar of the chapel of Palazzo Doria in Rome. The other, which is 33.5cm. high, is in a private collection in Rome. It was Jennifer Montagu (loc. cit.) who first pointed out the connection between them and the corresponding figure of St. Agnes, attributed to Lazzaro Morelli, on the colonnade in Piazza San Pietro (Martinelli, loc. cit.) She argued convincingly that at least in the case of the Doria bronze, the piece must have been based on a clay model by Bernini himself. The fact that Bernini made such models is confirmed by the existence of a clay bozzetto for the figure of S. Giusto in Berlin. The present bronze differs from the other two by virtue of being fully gilded, and also in its more finished appearance, notably in such details as the palm of martyrdom and the patterning of the hem of the saint's mantle.