This sculpture is related to a large sculpture in marble, commissioned in 1664 for the church of Sainte-Marie de Carignan, in Genoa, Italy. The subject of the sculpture, Alessandro Sauli, was named Bishop of Pavia in 1591. Saint Augustine, the author of the Confessions and The City of God, is often considered to be the theologian who most influenced Christianity. Augustine is often represented with books or writing instruments.
