CORDIER, Nicolas
(b. ca. 1567, Saint-Mihiel, d. 1612, Roma)

Statue of King David

1609-12
Marble
Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

In a period between the death of Michelangelo and the emergence of Bernini conspicuous for its dearth of sculptural talent, Cordier began to enjoy a considerable reputation among Roman patrons. He contributed to a number of major sculptural schemes including the Aldobrandini Chapel, built by Clement VIII in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where he carved statues of St Sebastian and Charity as well as the imposing recumbent funerary effigies of the Pope's parents, Silvestro Aldobrandini and Lesa Deti (marble; 1604–08), and Paul V's Cappella Paolina in Santa Maria Maggiore, for which he executed the restrained and conventional marble statues of Aaron, David, Dionysius the Aeropagite and St Bernard (1609–12).