Giuliano Finelli

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Giuliano Finelli was an Italian Baroque sculptor (Carrara, 1601- Rome, 1657) who emerged from the workshop of Bernini.

Born to a family of marble masons in a town associated with mining of the stone, an initially trained with Naccherino. He was initially active in Bernini's studio for a few years; however, in 1629, when he felt slighted by the awarding of the choice commission of a Saint Helena statue for the crossing of St Peter's to Andrea Bolgi, he broke with Bernini. He is also purported to have also been slighted by failure to be recognized as the detail master behind the Daphne and Apollo statue of Bernini.^[1]For some time, he found occasional work, often with the support of Pietro da Cortona.

The difference between the two sculptors, Bernini and Finelli, was slight. Finelli is highly meticulous about carving tiny details, a focus which often seems to drain from the greater emotion of the piece. The prolific Bernini was less conscious of lacy frillery in dress, and more centered on the psychology. For example, contrast the respective portraits of a common patron, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Bernini's portraint^[2] is animated, while Finelli's is more sober and has a slight downgaze ^[3]. He also completed the image of Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio (c1630) at San Giovanni in Laterano.

Within a few years of after leaving the employ of Bernini, Finelli left for Naples with his pupil and nephew, Domenico Guidi. He is known best for a number of portraits and statuary in the cathedral of San Gennaro in Naples. In Naples, he had to compete with the sculptor Cosimo Fanzago for commissions.