Editing Pierre Puget (section)

===Vaux-le-Vicomte and Genoa===
His reputation spread beyond Provence; he was invited to Paris and received a commission from a nobleman named Girardin for two statues, one representing Hercules and the other the Earth and [[Janus]], for a chateau in Normandy.  He completed them in Paris in July 1660.{{Sfn|Lagrange|1868|page=59}}  He then received an even more important commission from [[Nicolas Fouquet]], the King's Minister of Finance, to make sculpture for Fouquet's new garden at [[Vaux-le-Vicomte]], including a statue of Hercules, the personal symbol of Fouquet. These statues were to be made of marble, which was very expensive and rarely used in Paris at the time.  Fouquet sent Puget to Genoa, in Italy, to personally select and bring back the blocks of the best marble {{Sfn|Lagrange|1868|pages=59-60}}  While he was preparing his voyage, he received several proposals for sculptural projects from [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]], the secretary to [[Cardinal Mazarin]], the prime minister, but he refused them, due to his obligations to Fouquet.  Colbert did not forget this slight.{{Sfn|Lagrange|1868|page=61}}

In 1660 Fouquet travelled to the  quarries of [[Carrara marble]], where he selected the marble he wanted, chose a Genoese sailor as the model, and in Genoa made the statue that became known as the ''Hercules of Gaul''.  However, on 5 September 1661, Fouquet was arrested and imprisoned, on the accusations of Colbert, for taking government funds for his own use. The statue commissioned for Fouquet's garden was later sent instead to the [[Château de Sceaux]], Colbert's more modest residence. It is now in the Louvre.{{Sfn|Lagrange|1868|page=61}}

Puget decided to stay for a time in Italy, making long visits to Rome and Genoa.  His principal patron in Italy was an Italian nobleman, Francesco Maria Sauli. His major works during this period were two monumental statues for the pillars of the church of [[Santa Maria di Carignano]], representing [[Saint Sebastian]] and Bishop Alexander Paoli. They were completed in 1663, and showed the influence of Bernini. {{Sfn|Geese|2015|p=304}} He also made a notable statue, ''The Immaculate Conception'', for the French patron Emmanuel Brignole, for the chapel of an [[Albergo]] in Genoa. The Genoese senate proposed that he paint their council chamber, but he declined, to devote all his attention to sculpture.{{Sfn|Lagrange|1868|page=61}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Hercule au repos - Pierre Puget - Musée du Louvre Sculptures N 15345.jpg|''The Hercules of Gaul'', originally made for Fouquet, Paris, Louvre  (1661)
File:Pierre puget, san sebastiano, 1668, 02.JPG|Saint Sebastian at [[Santa Maria Assunta, Genoa]] (1668)
File:Pierre puget, sant'alessandro sauli, 1668, 02.JPG|Saint Alexander Sauli (1668)
</gallery>