Italian sculptor. He first studied with his father Giovanni Ponsonelli, a sculptor and decorator, and then with Filippo
Parodi. In 1680 he married Parodis daughter and, until the death of his father-in-law in 1702, he worked with him so closely that it is difficult to distinguish Ponsonellis contribution to their collaborative works in Venice (1678-87), Genoa and Padua (1685-97). He was greatly influenced by the Roman Baroque, which he probably studied when he visited Rome with
Parodi. His architectural decoration for Parodis St Martha in Ecstasy (Genoa, S Marta) was inspired by Bernini s illusionistic settings, and also reflects Ponsonellis early apprenticeship as a decorator with his father.
Ponsonellis two busts, of Cardinale Stefano Durazzo (1677; Genoa, Convento di S Vincenzo de Paoli) and
MarcAntonio Grillo (1683; Genoa, Albergo dei Poveri), are also influenced by Bernini, and show great psychological insight. The influence of his long collaboration with Parodi is revealed in the great angel of the funerary monument of Bishop Stefano Spinola (after 1683; Savona Cathedral), which recaptures the free, fluent movement and the form of Parodis monument to Morosini (Venice, S Nicol dei Tolentini). The same influence is evident in such later works as the figures of Faith, Hope and Charity (1690-1705; Genoa, Cappella di S Diego, Chiesa dellAnnunziata). A close affinity with the painting of Domenico
Piola and Gregorio de Ferrari is seen particularly in the fanciful arrangement of the group and the fluency of the forms in Vision of the Madonna of Mercy (Genoa, Chiesa dellAnnunziata di Portoria).
Ponsonelli sent many sculptures to Lisbon, Cadiz and Valencia, and for the palace of John Adam, Prince of Liechtenstein, in Vienna he sculpted mythological figures of which a bust of Mars has survived (Vaduz, Schloss Liechtenstein). His last work, completed after his death by his pupil, Pasquale Bocciardo (?1710-c. 1791), is the dramatic high altar for the church of Nostra Signora delle Vigne, Genoa, which is surmounted by a tumultuous glory of clouds and flying angels.