(b Ascoli Piceno, 30 Oct 1608; d 8 Sept 1691, bur Rome). Italian sculptor. He was trained by and worked with his father, Fulgenzio Morelli (d c. 1639), a sculptor and architect in Florence. He then moved to Rome, where he worked first with François Du Quesnoy and, from 1643, with Gianlorenzo Bernini, whose assistant he remained until the master’s death in 1680. Bernini clearly held him in esteem, for Morelli was given work on some of his most important studio projects. In St Peter’s, Rome, Morelli’s work included the decoration of the pilasters of the nave and aisles (1645–50); the two putti over the tomb of Urban VIII (1646–7); and the gigantic stucco figure of Peace that fills the left spandrel of the third arch on the right of the nave (1647). In S Maria del Popolo, Rome, he made the stucco figure of St Pudenziana, over an arch in the nave (1655); and he contributed decorative work in stucco and travertine for the attic story of the Porta del Popolo (1656). He worked on the Cathedra Petri (1657–66) in St Peter’s and supervised the project in 1665 while Bernini was in France. He carved 47 of the 90 statues in travertine for the colonnades of St Peter’s Square (1660–73); the Angel Carrying the Scourge for the Ponte S Angelo, Rome (1669); the statue of Truth and the shroud on the tomb of Alexander VII (1673–6; Rome, Vatican, St Peter’s). Morelli executed the travertine statues of female saints for the façade of S Maria di Monte Santo and a statue for S Maria dei Miracoli (1674–6), both in Rome. He also produced the colossal statue of Benignity on Mattia de’ Rossi’s tomb of Pope Clement X (1676–86) in St Peter’s. His best student was Giuseppe Giosafatti, who helped spread Bernini’s style to the Marches.

• Morelli, Lazzaro
  • Ascoli Piceno
  • collaboration
    • Rome, §V, 14(ii)(b): St Peter’s: Decoration
  • pupils
    • Giosafatti: (1) Giuseppe Giosafatti