Studies for a Kneeling Figure of Christ and Altar Fronts.
1652–1725
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash over traces of black chalk; the secondary paper support is outlined with brush and pink wash on the verso
Dimensions
sheet: 8 1/8 x 5 7/8 in. (20.7 x 14.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1977
Accession Number
1977.522.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Foggini (2–1725), a leading Florentine sculptor and architect of the late Baroque, created this intricate preparatory drawing as studies for a kneeling figure of and altar fronts. Working in the vibrant artistic milieu of 17th- and early 18th-century Italy Foggini contributed to grand ecclesiastical projects amid the Counter-Reformation's emphasis on emotive religious imagery. These sketches likely served as designs for sculptural or decorative elements in churches, capturing the devotional intensity of Christ's humility. Executed in pen and brown ink with brush and gray was...
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 ...