LE GROS, Pierre the Younger

In 1695, Andrea Pozzo obtained the commission for one of the most splendidly extravagant of Baroque altars, that of the Jesuits’ founder, St Ignatius Loyola, in the church of the Gesù. The altar occupies the whole of the left transept. The central group consists of the statue of the Saint beneath a representation of the Trinity. The central group is surrounded by gilt-bronze and marble reliefs illustrating scenes from Loyola’s ministry as well as large marble tableaux of the triumphs of Faith and Religion. Jean-Baptist Th�odon (1645-1713) executed the over life-size marble group of the Triumph of Faith over Idolatry and Pierre Le Gros the Religion Overthrowing Heresy and Hatred, both archetypal images of the Church Triumphant. The initial conception for each sculpture would have been supplied by Pozzo, whose earlier fresco in Sant’Ignazio essayed similar themes, but the sculptors must have been given a fairly free hand in realizing such abstract ideas.

In Le Gros’ work, Religion hurls down thunderbolts upon an old woman representing Hatred while a male figure of Heresy writhes vanquished beneath; to reinforce the point, a putto cheerfully tears pages out of a volume by the Swiss reformer Zwingli, and a tome beneath the figure of Heresy bears Luther’s name prominently on its spine.

Le Gros’s relief was inspired by the Ecstasy of St Catherine of Siena by Melchiore Cafà. This offered the ideal pattern for a meditative image, eminently suitable in the case of Gonzaga, the young Jesuit saint who was often invoked as an example of youthful piety. Like its prototype, Le Gros’s relief is exquisitely modulated though here the colour is confined to the surrounding gilt bronze, the four twisted columns of green marble, and the lapis lazuli and other coloured stones of the grandiloquent altar by Andrea Pozzo. The figure of the saint has been brought forward and is accompanied by clouds and angels.

The significant sculptural undertaking that inaugurated the eighteenth century in Rome was the realization of the colossal statues of the Apostles in twelve monumental, green marble niches, decorated by the dove symbol of the Pamphilj family, which Francesco Borromini built during the reconstruction of the interior of San Giovanni in Laterano. The statues, the completion of Borromini’s project, were executed before 1718 by the most important sculptors of the time from Rome and elsewhere. The sculptors included Camillo Rusconi (Andrew, Matthew, James the Greater, John the Evangelist), Francesco Moratti (Simon), Angelo de’ Rossi (James the Less), Giuseppe Mazzuoli (Philip), Lorenzo Ottoni (Thaddeus), as well as the Frenchmen Pierre-�tienne Monnot (Peter, Paul) and Pierre Le Gros (Bartholomew, Thomas).

Among these sculptors Camillo Rusconi was the most noted sculptor of the first half of the century. The only one who effectively rivaled him was Pierre Le Gros. It is not without reason that the St Bartholomew executed by Le Gros, without any indication on the part of Maratta - who had, however, given the drawings for most of the other statues - shows in the balance of the gesture a contained feeling of tragedy that dissolves into the virtuosity of the skin resting on the ample chest, which is created by the taut hem of the cloak.

The statue captures the beholder’s attention through its intense use of images. The hunting knife, the instrument of the apostle’s martyrdom, is ostentatiously displayed, as is his flayed skin.

Legros was chiefly employed in Roman churches, executing large-scale bas-reliefs of religious subject-matter, as well as statues. His St Dominic in the Basilica di San Pietro, put in position in 1706, gives a good flavour of his stirring, dynamic style; the saint’s ardour and authority are well conveyed, emphasized by the ample, skilfully handled sweep of his draperies. The sculpture is conceived to make a bold impact on the spectator.

The significant sculptural undertaking that inaugurated the eighteenth century in Rome was the realization of the colossal statues of the Apostles in twelve monumental, green marble niches, decorated by the dove symbol of the Pamphilj family, which Francesco Borromini built during the reconstruction of the interior of San Giovanni in Laterano. The statues, the completion of Borromini’s project, were executed before 1718 by the most important sculptors of the time from Rome and elsewhere. The sculptors included Camillo Rusconi (Andrew, Matthew, James the Greater, John the Evangelist), Francesco Moratti (Simon), Angelo de’ Rossi (James the Less), Giuseppe Mazzuoli (Philip), Lorenzo Ottoni (Thaddeus), as well as the Frenchmen Pierre-�tienne Monnot (Peter, Paul) and Pierre Le Gros (Bartholomew, Thomas).

Among these sculptors Camillo Rusconi was the most noted sculptor of the first half of the century. The only one who effectively rivaled him was Pierre Le Gros.

Le Gros’ artistic makeup was such a successful synthesis of Italian and French elements that he never lacked work; his commissions, however, frequently embodied retardataire taste, none more so than the extraordinary multicolored St Stanislaus Kostka on his Deathbed. Here Le Gros’work looks back to the tradition of ecstatic or dying saints created by Bernini and Cafà, but instead of a white marble figure set off by coloured marbles, colour forms an integral part of Le Gros’ work: black touchstone for the Jesuit habit, Sicilian jasper and yellow marble for the bedding, and gilt bronze for the fringe. The saints hands, feet and head are carved from white Carrara marble, with the hair left rough and unpolished and the nails and eyes delicately incised.

The work’s purpose was to shock visitors entering the room where the young man once lived, by conveying the impression of someone actually dying, and the Jesuits resisted Le Gros’ attempts to have the sculpture moved from their novitiate to the church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, largely because of its effectiveness in its intended setting.

Le Gros’ artistic makeup was such a successful synthesis of Italian and French elements that he never lacked work; his commissions, however, frequently embodied retardataire taste, none more so than the extraordinary multicolored St Stanislaus Kostka on his Deathbed. Here Le Gros’work looks back to the tradition of ecstatic or dying saints created by Bernini and Cafà, but instead of a white marble figure set off by coloured marbles, colour forms an integral part of Le Gros’ work: black touchstone for the Jesuit habit, Sicilian jasper and yellow marble for the bedding, and gilt bronze for the fringe. The saints hands, feet and head are carved from white Carrara marble, with the hair left rough and unpolished and the nails and eyes delicately incised.

The work’s purpose was to shock visitors entering the room where the young man once lived, by conveying the impression of someone actually dying, and the Jesuits resisted Le Gros’ attempts to have the sculpture moved from their novitiate to the church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, largely because of its effectiveness in its intended setting.