Bernardino Ludovisi

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Angel bearing Lilies, Altar of S Luigi Gonzaga in Sant'Ignazio, Rome; c. 1748. Angel altar Aloysius Gonzaga Sant Ignazio.jpg
Angel bearing Lilies, Altar of S Luigi Gonzaga in Sant'Ignazio, Rome; c. 1748.

Bernardino Ludovisi (c. 1693 – 11 December 1749), also called Bernardo, was an Italian sculptor.

Contents

Life and work

Little is known of his life. The Ludovisi were an ancient Italian family, originally from Bologna. Bernardino seems to have spent most, if not all, of his career in Rome. He is an example of a working sculptor of his time, proficient in his craft but largely forgotten today.

Ludovisi participated in several prominent sculptural projects of his day, such as the Trevi Fountain, the ongoing sculptural works of St Peter’s, and the façade of St John Lateran. He was one of six Italian sculptors allotted subsidiary tasks to the French masters Pierre Le Gros and Jean-Baptiste Théodon working on the Chapel of St Ignatius in Il Gesù. [1] He was also one of the sculptors commissioned by King João V of Portugal to supply sculpture to his palatial complex at Mafra. Towards the end of his life he was employed by the Colonna family, prominent patrons of the arts, for whom he completed the funerary monuments of Filippo II Colonna and Maria Rospigliosi Salviati (the latter commissioned by her relative, Caterina Salviati Colonna), as well as a portrait bust of Pope Benedict XIV (a gift from Monsignor later Cardinal Marcantonio Colonna to the Pontiff).

Ludovisi began in the vein of Baroque classicism, but as he matured he began to lean toward the French style of Le Gros and the Rococo, exemplifying a later, gentler variation of Italian Baroque which Enggass named barocchetto. His work is characterised by an attention to detail, an effective use of colour, and a painterly manner in his reliefs.

List of known works

Angel bearing Lilies, Altar of S Luigi Gonzaga in Sant'Ignazio, Rome; c. 1748. Angel altar Aloysius Gonzaga Sant Ignazio n2.jpg
Angel bearing Lilies, Altar of S Luigi Gonzaga in Sant'Ignazio, Rome; c. 1748.

Notes

  1. Wittkower (435-436) views the work of these Italians in the chapel as more distinguished than that of the more highly regarded French masters
  2. Said to be the largest single piece of lapis in existence - Augustus J. C. Hare, Walks in Rome (1871) pp. 106f
  3. "Church of Sant'Apollinare", Turismo Roma, Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion Department

Bibliography

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