Stefano Maderno (c. 1576 – 17 September 1636) was one of the greatest Roman sculptors of the early 17th century. Biography Information about Maderno's life is scarce and often contradictory. He was long supposed to have been a brother of the contemporary architect Carlo Maderno, and therefore to having been born at Capolago, in what is now Ticino: his death certificate, however, gave his place of birth as Palestrina (Donati 1945) and he signed a bas-relief in the Cappella Paolina in Santa Maria Maggiore as a Roman: STEPHANVS MADERNVS ROMANVS F ("Stefano Maderno of Rome made [this]"). Maderno began by copying the antique and made several highly esteemed models in bronze. He is best known for the seemingly unposed, naturalistic recumbent marble of Santa Cecilia in the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere (1599–1600), which immediately established his reputation. Elected to the Accademia di San Luca in 1607, Maderno became the pre-eminent sculptor of his generation, on the cusp between Mannerism and Baroque, rivalled in his prime only by Camillo Mariani, though he was eclipsed in his later years by the rapidly rising star of Bernini. His patron, Count Gaspare Rivaldi, having sought to reward him by procuring for him a sinecure at the excise offices of the Gabelle di Ripetta, the sculptor dutifully devoted his time to his new duties and neglected his art. Works The ʻʻSanta Ceciliaʻʻ was a counter-statement to the current dry and hectic complications of Mannerism, to which it confronted a simple sweeping outline and a stark pose. This is not a sanitized hagiographical representation of a saint, but the graphic representation of an uncorrupted corpse, claimed to be positioned just as it had been found. The saint's tomb had been opened in 1599, and Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrato commissioned Maderno, very young at the time, to recreate the martyr's body in marble. Compare this statue with the passionately theatrical representations of Saint Theresa and Ludovica Albertoni by Bernini, and the Santa Rosa de Lima by Melchiorre Caffà. He also provided a marble Prudence for the tomb of Michele Bonelli, known as the Cardinale Alessandrino, in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and provided two bas-reliefs for Paul V's Cappella Paolina at Santa Maria Maggiore (1608–1615); probably the figure of St. Peter for the façade of the Quirinal Palace; a statue of St. Charles Borromeo in the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso; decorative figures of putti