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This statue is on the high altar of the basilica, as a pendant to Clemente Molli's Guardian Saint. The altar was designed by Baldassare Longhena, with sculptures by Clemente Molli, Francesco Cavrioli, and Bernardo Falconi. In the absence of artists able to work with equal competence in both sculpture and architecture, as Jacopo Sansovino and Alessandro Vittoria, sculptors in Venice began to depend increasingly on architects from the 1640s onward. Architects worked out projects in their entirety, entrusting single parts of the work to the different masters, from stonecarver and sculptor to the more modest artisans. The architect himself supervised and once finished, he approved, signing the relevant invoices and submitting them to the client for payment.
Francesco Cavrioli's Guardian Saint's elegant outline is accompanied by a suppleness that is still Mannerist. The decorative vein and a craftsman-like meticulousness are constant in Cavrioli's work.
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