Statue of St Sylvia

Cordier’s first important works in Rome were a seated marble statue of St Gregory (1602) and a standing marble statue of St Sylvia (1604), both in San Gregorio Magno (San Gregorio al Celio). Both works show Cordier, inspired by Antique and Renaissance prototypes, moving towards a style more harmonious in composition and more expressive in sentiment.

To the left of the church, tightly grouped in the garden, are three oratories commissioned by Cardinal Cesare Baronio at the beginning of the 17th century, as commemorations of Gregory’s original monastery. One of them, the Oratory of St Sylvia, is dedicated to St Silvia, St Gregory’s mother: it is probably located over her tomb. The statue of St Sylvia is in this Oratory which has also frescoes of a Concert of Angels by Guido Reni and David and Isaiah by Sisto Badalocchio.