Design for a Proscenium or Alcove
1652–1725
Medium
Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk
Dimensions
sheet: 4 9/16 x 5 11/16 in. (11.6 x 14.5 cm) (irregular borders)
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
52.570.231
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652–1725), a leading Florentine sculptor, architect, and designer of the late Baroque period, created this delicate pen-and-ink study as part of his wide-ranging work for the Medici court. Active in Florence after training in Rome under the influence of Bernini, Foggini frequently produced ornamental designs that united sculpture, architecture, and theatrical spectacle. The sheet’s modest size and irregular edges suggest it was a working sketch, quickly capturing ideas for a grand proscenium or recessed alcove—structures often commissioned for palace interiors or co...
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 ...