FERRATA, Ercole. — Sculptor, born in Pellio Inferiore (Como) in 1610, died in Rome on 10 July 1686. He worked in Naples and the Abruzzi, then in Rome, where he remained almost always, and served as a collaborator to the two greatest and most contrasting sculptors of the time, Bernini and Algardi. The presence in his studio at the time of his death of numerous models of works by the classicizing Francesco Duquesnoy suggests that he was on close terms with the Flemish master.
He carved, following Algardi, the *Maestà del Regno* in the monument created by Algardi himself for Leo XI in St Peter’s, and the *Charity* in the tomb of Clement IX in S. Maria Maggiore, designed by C. Rainaldi. He approached Bernini in the statue of Clement X in his tomb in St Peter’s, designed by Mattia de’ Rossi and adorned with statues by other Bernini pupils. For the Berninian church of S. Agnese in Piazza Navona he executed the marble altarpieces representing the *Martyrdom of St Emerenziana* (finished by Leonardo Reti), *St Faustinian among the beasts* (begun by Melchiorre Caffà) and *St Agnes among the flames*, in which he appears distinctly drawn to Bernini. He also worked for Bernini in the Pimentel monument in the church of S. Maria sopra Minerva, and in carving the Angel carrying the Cross on Ponte S. Angelo. Under Bernini’s direction he also made the statue of St Catherine in the Cappella del Voto in Siena Cathedral. He completed the statue of St Anastasia, sketched by Francesco Aprile, in the church of the same name. He had several pupils, the best known of whom are Camillo Rusconi, Giovanni Battista Foggini, Filippo Carcani and Giuseppe Mazzuoli.