Flagellation group
(c. 1635-1640)
Medium
silver, painted wood
Measurements
(a-d) 27.5 × 44.7 × 14.2 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1974
Gallery location
16th & 17th Century Gallery - Painting and Sculpture
Mezzanine linked to Level 1, NGV International
About this work
Alessandro Algardi was a native of Bologna who trained initially as a sculptor. He moved permanently to Rome in 1625, where he attracted both church and private patronage. It was under the papacy of Innocent X (Giovanni Pamphilj) (reigned 1644–55) that Algardi achieved his greatest success as an artist, undertaking numerous portrait commissions, monumental religious sculptures and architectural projects. Algardi also created small, domestic-scale objects, including this depiction of the Stations of the Cross.
Algardi cast many versions in bronze; however, this silver version is very rare. The elegant posing and stark realism in the modelling is a typical trait of Bolognese Baroque artists.