In a medallion

In a medallion
Monument to Cardinal Ludovisi by Pierre Legros in S. Ignazio

This page deals with baroque funeral monuments where the dead are shown in a medallion, without a representation of Death holding the medallion: these monuments are dealt with in a separate page: Memento Mori.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed two patterns of monuments where the dead are portrayed in a medallion.

Monuments to Maria Raggi (1647) in S. Maria sopra Minerva and to Agostino Chigi (1652) in S. Maria del Popolo by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Monument to Maria Raggi on a pillar of S. Maria sopra Minerva introduced the concept of pictorial sculpture which Bernini developed in many other subsequent works. The use of color and of drapes swelled by a sort of internal wind will appear again in the Monument to Alexander VII and in the statue of Constantine.
In the Monument to Agostino Chigi Bernini followed indications left by Raphael, who had designed the Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo back at the beginning of the XVIth century. The use of a colored marble for the pyramid, in contrast with the white medallion is however typical of Bernini.
Most of the funeral monuments of the second half of the XVIIth century followed two other patterns: either they represented the dead in the act of praying or they showed a Representation of Death.

During the XVIIIth century the level of religious fervour wore out and several funeral monuments followed (and in some case combined) the two patterns shown above which suited the objective of celebrating the dead.

A monument to a Cardinal from Genoa by Bernardino Ludovisi in the little church of S. Salvatore alle Coppelle shows this desire of celebrating the dead without making reference to Death.

Monument to Cardinal Giorgio Spinola (1744) by Bernardino Ludovisi in S. Salvatore alle Coppelle and Monument to Alessandro Gregorio Capponi (1746) by Michelangelo Slodtz in S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini

Michel Rénè Slodtz, known in Rome as Michelangelo Slodtz, was one of the many French artists who worked in Rome during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. His Monument to Alessandro Capponi in S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini is influenced by both of Bernini's monuments. The monument shows also a little skull and on the base a torch upside down, a symbol of death which was replacing the more direct representations of the XVIIth century. The monument was designed by Ferdinando Fuga a Florentine architect who worked in Rome, chiefly for the Florentine Pope Clemens XII. It was not uncommon for sculptors to be asked to work on a monument designed by an architect.

Pietro Bracci is known for his statue of Neptune in Fontana di Trevi, but he has left an impressive number of other works, sometimes designed by him, sometimes executed for a monument, like Fontana di Trevi, designed by somebody else.

Monuments by Pietro Bracci to Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci in S. Marcello al Corso and to Cardinal Leopoldo Calcagnini (1746-48) in S. Andrea delle Fratte

His monument to Cardinal Calcagnini in S. Andrea delle Fratte with a statue of an angel writing on the pyramid is similar to a monument by Bernardo Cametti in Palestrina, which you can see in the background of this page.

Paolo Posi, an architect who worked in the second half of the XVIIIth century, can be considered the last baroque artist.

Monument to Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi (1771) by Paolo Posi in S. Maria del Popolo

His Monument to Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi in S. Maria del Popolo, immediately outside the Chigi chapel is a lavish reinterpretation of Bernini's monument to Maria Raggi. You can see a page devoted to this last baroque tomb.

Although in the last part of the XVIIIth century, as a result of the Neoclassicist movement, the name Bernini became synonymous with bad taste, still some monuments continued to be designed following his examples.

Monument to Cardinal Camillo Merlini Paolucci (1776) by Tommaso Righi in S. Marcello al Corso and Monument to Pietro Giavota (1782) by Raffaele Secini in S. Spirito in Sassia

Tommaso Righi and Raffaele Secini are hardly mentioned in any history of art, most likely because they continued to use baroque images in an environment fully converted to Neoclassicism, as their Monuments to the Cardinal Camillo Merlini Paolucci in S. Marcello al Corso and to the anatomist Pietro Giavota in S. Spirito in Sassia clearly show.

Other pages dealing with Baroque sculpture:
Statues in the act of praying
Representation of Death in Baroque sculptures
Baroque Angels
Three chapels by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Three busts by Alessandro Algardi
Baroque Monuments to the Popes
Baroque High Reliefs
Statues Close to Heaven
Embittered Andrew (the statues in St. Peter's octagon)
Laughing Masks
Playing with Colours
See also my List of Baroque Architects and my Directory of Baroque Sculpture.

Go to my Home Page on Baroque Rome or to my Home Page on Rome in the footsteps of an XVIIIth century traveller.