Design for a Frame or Epitaph (recto); Caryatid Supporting a Frame (verso)
1652–1725
Medium
Pen and light brown ink, brush and brown wash over traces of black chalk (recto); Black chalk (verso)
Dimensions
sheet: 9 3/4 x 6 in. (24.7 x 15.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1952
Accession Number
52.570.251
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Foggini (2–1725), a leading Florentine sculptor, architect, and designer of the late Baroque period created this double-sided drawing as a preparatory study for ornate architectural elements. Born in Italy, Foggini trained under prominent masters and contributed to grand ecclesiastical and palatial decorations, blending classical motifs with exuberant ornamentation characteristic of the Baroque style. Produced during his active career, this sheet exemplifies his skill in conceptualizing frames and supports for memorials or altarpieces. On the recto, delicate pen and light br...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Foggini · 1652–1725
**Giovanni Battista Foggini** (1652–1725) was a leading Italian sculptor and architect of the late Baroque period, born in Florence within the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He began his career under the patronage of the Medici family, who sponsored his artistic training. In 1673, at the age of 21, Cosimo III de' Medici sent the young Foggini to Rome to join the newly founded Accademia Fiorentina, where ...