Lot 37: WORKSHOP OF ALESSANDRO ALGARDI (1598-1654)ITALIAN, ROME, 17TH CENTURY

PROPERTY FROM THE GUSTAV RAU COLLECTION SOLD TO BENEFIT THE GERMAN COMMITTEE FOR UNICEF ROUNDEL WITH THE BEHEADING OF ST. PAUL with an old Christie's label printed twice with the Christie's logo, stamped twice: 05 DEC 1989 inscribed twice in ink: 77 and inscribed twice in pencil and red ink: 2.349 bronze 50cm., 19½in. diameter

Christie's London, 16 December 1986, lot 34

Along with Gianlorenzo Bernini, Alessandro Algardi was the most important and distinguished sculptor in Rome in the mid-seventeenth century. In October 1634, he was commissioned to model a monumental freestanding group, the Beheading of St Paul, for the altar of La Basilica di San Paolo in Bologna. Designs for the altar had already been drawn up by Bernini. However, the task fell to Algardi, and the resulting magnificent monumental sculpture in marble can be seen on the high altar today. In 1648, Algardi added to this a bronze relief for the decoration of the altar-frontal, below the marble group. The present sculpture is an extremely finely chased cast derived from this model. It continues the narrative of the marble group: St. Paul’s severed head now lies on the ground. The relief represents the story that, as his head hit the ground three times, three springs welled up from within the Earth. Algardi depicts the horror and shock of the executioner with an exaggerated arm gesture as the water flows before him. It provides a dramatic counterpoint to the narrative moment of the marble group, wherein the executioner is composed and empowered. The present sculpture is a particularly refined cast of the famed model, which exists in marble, terracotta, silver, bronze, clay and gilt-bronze versions. The finer details, such as the musculature of the executioner and the figure on the left gently kissing St. Paul’s feet, are crisp and delicate. Another bronze relief version of The Beheading of St. Paul is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. A.68-1962). RELATED LITERATURE J. Montagu, Alessandro Algardi, New Haven / London, 1985, vol. II, pp. 369-376, no. 69; M. H. Ravalli, Allesandro Algardi scultore, Rome, 1972, pp. 141-143, no. 49; J. Montagu, Algardi, l'altra faccia del barocco, exh. cat. Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma, 1999, p. 142, no. 21