Peter (Pietro) Cardelli (1776–1822), sculptor, was born in Rome and studied painting at the Accademia di San Luca in 1793. By 1801 he moved to Paris, where he worked as a sculptor and exhibited at the Paris Salons of 1804, 1810, and 1812. Proceeding to London and displaying works at the Royal Academy, 1815–16, in the latter year Cardelli went to New York City seeking more lucrative support for his art. There he befriended John Trumbull, who encouraged him to go to Washington, D.C. Cardelli did so but found only limited employment as an ornamentalist on the renovations of the United States Capitol, 1818–19. He then sought portrait commissions and modeled the busts of statesmen, including TJ, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, hoping to profit by selling plaster copies. Still struggling to achieve commercial success, Cardelli moved to New Orleans in 1820, and the following year he performed decorative work on the front of the Cabildo, the city hall. He died in New Orleans (Alberto M. Ghisalberti and others, eds., Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani [1960– ], 19:770–1; Michael Preston Worley, “Identifying Pietro Cardelli [1776–1822] and his Œuvre: From the Salon of 1804 in Paris to the Pediment of the Cabildo in New Orleans,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 122 [1993]: 41–50; Gérard Hubert, Les Sculpteurs Italiens en France sous la Révolution l’Empire et la Restauration, 1790–1830 [1964], 122–6; Groce and Wallace, Dictionary of Artists description begins George C. Groce and David H. Wallace, The New-York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564–1860, 1957 description ends , 108–9; Latrobe, Papers description begins John C. Van Horne and others, eds., The Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 1984–88, 3 vols. description ends , 3:941–2, 953–4; Cardelli-Trumbull correspondence [NjMoHP: Lloyd W. Smith Collection]; Samuel Wilson Jr., “Pietro Cardelli, Sculptor of the Cabildo’s Eagle,” Louisiana History 21 [1980]: 399–405).

les italiens were Giacomo Raggi and Michele Raggi.

On 15 June 1819 Cardelli wrote from Monticello to John Quincy Adams that “j’ai terminé le buste de Mr Jefferson et je part oujourdui pour Montpelier chez Mr Madison” (“I finished the bust of Mr. Jefferson and depart today for Montpellier, the home of Mr. Madison”) (MHi: Adams Papers). An image of Cardelli’s bust of TJ is reproduced elsewhere in this volume.