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St. Leo IV
- Pope
Born - 790
Died - 17 July 855 in Rome
Feastday - 17 July
Sculptor
- unknown
Based on the documents and stylistic features
perhaps the work could be attributed, but it has been very
damaged by time. However, it seem closest to the school of
Algardi.
Statue
created - c.1669-1670
The statue is part of a group of 16
installed between 1 May 1669 and 5 August 1670
Height
- 3.1 m. (10ft 4in) travertine
He is depicted in a cope
with the papal tiara, and in the act of blessing.
Leo
fortified Rome by building the walls around the Borgo and the
Vatican, thus creating the Leonine City. He formed an alliance
against the Saracens
that defeated them at the Battle of Ostia in 849. These
raiders had plundered St Peter's in 846.
Leo is the subject
of the fresco in the Stanze of Raphael, The Fire in the Borgo.
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