MAILLE, Michel - b. ~1643 Saint-Claude, d. 1703 Roma

French sculptor active in Rome as Michele Maglia. Between the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Roman artistic environment saw the emergence of a small group of French sculptors who perfected, after having assimilated, the Baroque lessons of Bernini. Among these, Michel Maille initially trained as an ivory carver and later became student of Ercole Ferrata. He translated these experiences into works of great expressive intensity, such as that seen in the chapel of San Pietro d’Alcantara in Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome, considered his best work. This expressive intensity is also visible in the statue of Religion from the funeral monument of Carlo Bonelli at Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.

St Peter of Alcantara

Michel Maille, a student of Ercole Ferrata, whose earliest known works date from about 1672, adhered closely to the manner of his master. His principal work is the decoration of the chapel in Santa Maria in Aracoeli dedicated to St Peter of Alcantara, where above the altar the ecstatic saint hovers in the air before a vision of the Cross, while on the side walls life-size angels carry medallions with reliefs of St Stephen and St Ranieri. The convincing spirituality of these figures and the free transitions between sculpture and space make this work a legitimate descendant of Bernini’s Cornaro Chapel.