Francesco Maria Schiaffino (1688 – January 3, 1763) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 sculptor of the Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 or late-Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

, mainly active in his native city of Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

.

Born into a family of sculptors, including his older brother Bernardo Schiaffino

Bernardo Schiaffino

Bernardo Schiaffino was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period, active mainly in his natal city of Genoa.He was one of two sculptors in his family, along with his younger brother Francesco Maria Schiaffino. He trained with Domenico Parodi...

. In 1721–24, he apprenticed in the Roman studio of Camillo Rusconi

Camillo Rusconi

Camillo Rusconi was an Italian sculptor of the late Baroque in Rome. His style displays both features of Baroque and Neoclassicism. He has been described as a Carlo Maratta in marble.-Biography:...

. Returning to Genoa, he executed such works as St Dominic for the Teatro Carlo Felice

Teatro Carlo Felice

The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the Piazza De Ferrari....

, and Pluto and Proserpine sculpted for the Palazzo Reale. In 1738 he designed the theatrical funeral monument to Caterina Fieschi Adorno for the church of Santissima Annunziata di Portoria, Genoa. In 1739, he also designed wax models of eight apostles and four doctors of the church (modelled after the apostle statues in the niches of San Giovanni in Laterano by Rusconi and others; these were used by Diego Francesco Carlone, to execute in stucco for the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Carignano

Carignano

Carignano is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 20 km south of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,777 and an area of 50.2 km².-Geography:...

. He had statues sent to the towns of Sestri, Camogli

Camogli

Camogli is a small Italian fishing village and tourist resort located on the west side of the peninsula of Portofino, on the Golfo Paradiso at the Riviera di Levante, in the province of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. its population was of 5582 inhabitants. The name means "house of wives"...

, and Albizzuola.