Study for The Blessed Alessandro Sauli (1663–1668): Art, History and Details

Study for The Blessed Alessandro Sauli (1663–1668) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Pierre Puget (French, 1620–1694).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A famous preacher from an aristocratic family in Genoa, Sauli (1534-1591) spearheaded important Catholic reforms, including popular missions and restructuring the church to reach a broader spectrum of worshippers. This sculpture is a model for a large statue commissioned by the Sauli family for a Genoese church. Although the open book speaks to Sauli’s work as a reformer, his twisting body and facial expression indicate utter absorption in a deeply personal vision.

Object facts

• Title: Study for The Blessed Alessandro Sauli
• Date: 1663–1668
• Creator attribution: Pierre Puget (French, 1620–1694)
• Culture: France, made in Genoa, 17th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: terracotta
• Dimensions: Overall: 69.7 cm (27 7/16 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1964.36

A detail from the museum

Terracotta models, like this study for a sculpture, are also known as bozzetti or modelli.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• “Year in Review for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 10 (December 1964): 236–66.
• Hawley, Henry H. “Pierre Puget: Blessed Alessandro Sauli.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 4 (April 1965): 101–105.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.