A BIT IN DEEP: ERCOLE FERRATA

Ercole Ferrata before arriving in Rome, to be short, scraped by for years.

In Rome, he entered the workshop of the great Alessandro Algardi and became his favorite disciple. He certainly worked with Algardi in the realization of the tomb of Leo XI in St. Peter in Vatican and probably, yet in Vatican, in the great altarpiece with Leo the Great.

When Algardi died in 1554, Ferrata collaborated on several occasions with Bernini, among others, the "Pulcin della Minerva", (the Romans named the little elephant “pulcino”, that means chick), designed by Bernini, was sculpted by Ferrata.

In Rome, he formed an important workshop, where among his pupils the most promising was Melchiorre Caffà (1636 - 1667), who tragically died in an accident occurred in the foundries of St. Peter.

The “Pulcin della Minerva” - click to enlarge

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