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It is not clear what part Algardi played in the biggest artistic undertaking of Innocent X's papacy, the renovation of the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome. With Bernini, Mochi and others, he was supposed to execute the 12 colossal statues for niches in the nave, a project that was not carried out until the early 18th century. It is probable, but not certain, that Algardi provided the designs for at least some of the 12 stucco reliefs on the walls of the nave, in which scenes from the New Testament were placed opposite equivalent scenes from the Old Testament in accordance with a programme worked out by the Vatican librarian Annibale Albani.
The picture shows a relief from the New Testament series.
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