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St. Leo the Great
- Pope from 440-461
Born - c.400
Died - 10 November 461
Feastday
- 10 November
Sculptor
- Giovanni Maria De Rossi
He received payments for five
statues from December 1668 to December 1669. The statues made
by De Rossi presented a greater adherence to the style of
Bernini than those by previous sculptors.
Statue
Installed - c.1669-1670
The statue is part of a group of
16 erectred between May 1669 and August 1670.
Height
- 3.1 m. (10ft 4in) travertine
Represented in pontifical
robes with a beard, his right hand is raised in the act of
blessing.
The
Holy Pontiff was particularly venerated in Rome where he had
protected the city from looting with his famous meeting with
Attila the Hun.
Devotion to the saint, like that of Popes Leo II, III and IV,
spread during the 17th century following the translation of
their relics in 1607 to a tomb in St Peter's Basilica. His
major importance is as a Doctor of the Church. His
intervention at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, where his
Tome on the two natures in Christ was read and approved, was
decisive.
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