Alessandro AlgardiItalian, 1595–1654Madonna and Child
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Madonna and Child” now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 550, New York. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
New York, United States
Closed· opens at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 69.174
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
In the life of Alessandro Algardi
The whole life1625–1634
Years of struggling for recognition in Rome
Bernini and his studio, backed by Borghese and Barberini patronage, win most of the major Roman commissions, while Algardi struggles for recognition for nearly a decade: he takes small commissions — terracotta and a few marble portrait busts — and supports himself with small works like crucifixes. He is aided by friends, among them Pietro da Cortona and his fellow Bolognese Domenichino; he was also a friend of François Duquesnoy, Andrea Sacchi and Nicolas Poussin.
1625–1654 · Workplace
Rome
1644
Innocent X draws him to the papal court
With the death of the Barberini pope Urban VIII and the accession of the Pamphilj pope Innocent X, the Barberini fall into disfavor and Bernini receives fewer commissions; Algardi, by contrast, is embraced by the new pope and the pope's nephew Camillo Pamphilj. His portraits are highly prized, their formal severity contrasting with Bernini's vivacity, and his large bronze of Innocent X is now in the Capitoline Museums.
1650
Meets Velázquez; commissions from Spain
He meets Diego Velázquez, who obtains commissions for his work from Spain: four chimney-pieces and the figures of the fountain of Neptune in the gardens of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, and the tomb of the Count and Countess de Monterey in the Augustinian monastery at Salamanca.
in later years
A large studio, a fortune and pupils
In his later years he controls a large studio and amasses a great fortune. His classicizing manner is carried on by pupils such as Ercole Ferrata and Domenico Guidi, and Antonio Raggi initially trained with him (other accounts say all three then moved to Bernini); lesser-known assistants in his studio include Francesco Barrata, Girolamo Lucenti and Giuseppe Peroni.
10 June 1654
Died
