Gian Lorenzo Bernini
designed two patterns of monuments where the dead are portrayed in a medallion.
Monuments to Maria Raggi (1647) in S. Maria sopra Minerva and
to Sigismondo and Agostino Chigi (1652) in S. Maria del Popolo by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
The Monument to Maria Raggi on a pillar of S. Maria sopra Minerva introduced the concept
of pictorial sculpture which Bernini developed in many other subsequent works (have a close look at the inscription). The use of color and of drapes swelled by a sort of internal
wind will appear again in the Monument to Alexander VII and
in the statue of Constantine.
In the Monument to Agostino Chigi Bernini
followed indications left by Raphael, who had designed the Chigi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo back at the beginning of the
XVIth century. The use of a colored marble for the pyramid, in contrast with the white medallion is however typical of Bernini.
Most of the funeral monuments of the second half of the XVIIth century followed two other patterns: either they represented
the dead in the act of praying or they showed a Representation of Death.
During the XVIIIth century the level of religious
fervour wore out and several funeral monuments followed (and in some case combined)
the two patterns shown above which suited the objective of celebrating the dead.
A monument to a Cardinal from Genoa by Bernardino Ludovisi in
the little church of S. Salvatore alle Coppelle shows this desire of
celebrating the dead without making reference to Death.
(left) Monument to Cardinal Giorgio Spinola (1744) by Bernardino Ludovisi in S. Salvatore alle Coppelle; (right) Monument to Alessandro Gregorio Capponi (1746) by Michelangelo Slodtz in S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini
Michel Rénè Slodtz, known in Rome as Michelangelo Slodtz, was one of the many French artists
who worked in Rome during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. His Monument to Alessandro Capponi in S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini is influenced
by both of Bernini's monuments. The monument was designed by Ferdinando Fuga a Florentine architect
who worked in Rome, chiefly for the Florentine Pope Clement XII; it was not uncommon for sculptors to be asked to work
on a monument designed by an architect.
Pietro Bracci is known
for his statue of Oceanus in Fontana di Trevi, but
he has left an impressive number of other works, sometimes designed by him, sometimes executed
for a monument, like Fontana di Trevi, designed by somebody else.
Monuments by Pietro Bracci to Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci in S. Marcello al Corso and to Cardinal Leopoldo Calcagnini (1746-48) in S. Andrea delle Fratte
His monument to Cardinal Calcagnini in 
In a medallion
