Research: 17th century Italian sculpture in the Spanish royal collections: presence, impact and collecting
Alejandro Elizalde (Zamora, 1997) trained at several Italian and Spanish universities. In 2019, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Historical-Artistic Studies at the University of Salamanca, after having done several courses at the Complutense University of Madrid thanks to a 2018-2019 Séneca Grant, and in 2021 his master’s degree in Art History at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In October 2022, he won a scholarship in the XXXVIII cycle of the PhD in Art History at Università della Sapienza, where he investigates the presence, impact, collecting and circulation of 17th-century Italian sculpture in Spain. His interest in this phenomenon dates to his studies in Bologna (Erasmus Scholarship 2017-2018) when he researched the relationship between Bernini and the Hispanic Monarchy, a subject with which he graduated. He then dedicated his master's thesis to Giovanni Battista Morelli, an Algardian sculptor in the service of Philip IV, carried out thanks to the 'Ayudas para el Fomento de Investigación en Estudios del Máster' (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2021-2022). At the same time, he investigated the decoration of the Novitiate Church in Madrid, entrusted to the greatest sculptors working in Rome in the early 18th century and do an internship at the National Calcography in Madrid (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) where he studies the collection of European drawings. Since February 2023, he has been a lecturer in History of Modern Art (L-ART/02).