AURELI (AURELJ), CESARE. – Sculptor, b. and d. in Rome (1844–1923). His most significant works include the statue of Cardinal Massaia (1893) in the church of the Franciscans at Tuscolo, near Frascati; in Rome, the figure of St Thomas – carved for the Jubilee of Leo XIII – intended for the Vatican Library; the group St John Baptist de la Salle (1903) in St Peter’s; the group Galileo and Milton (1912), which A. donated to the University of Rome; the model for the monument to St Alphonsus Mary de’ Liguori (erected in 1923 in S. Agata dei Goti); and the statue of St Cecilia in the church of the same name.
Among his writings on art, the most noteworthy are: *Il soprannaturale, supremo ispiratore delle arti belle* (from *Gli studi in Italia*, 7 [1884], pp. 1–54); *Arte popolare o di genere* (from *Giornale arcadico*, 6th series, 2 [1907], pp. 337–53); *Il tipo di Gesù Cristo nell’arte sacra* (Rome 1907); *Dello scopo supremo delle Arti Belle* (ibid. 1878) and *Sul realismo nelle arti belle* (from *Gli Studi d’Italia*, 1 [1878], pp. 1–21), in which A. sets forth his artistic theory that, between academic classicism and mystical-idealist trends, proposes as the artist’s goal the «search for beauty in truth».