Design for a Pedestal (recto); Design for the Plan of a Monument (verso)

Art Historical Context

Giovanni Battista Foggini (2–1725), a leading Florentine sculptor and architect the late Baroque era, crafted this intimate double-sided drawing as a preparatory study for grand architectural elements. Active in the Medici court, Foggini was renowned for his ornate, dynamic designs inspired by masters like Gian Lorenzo Bernini, blending sculpture with architecture in opulent palaces and chapels. Created during the height of Baroque exuberance in 17th- and early 18th-century Italy, this sheet exemplifies the meticulous planning behind monumental commissions. On the recto, Foggini employs pen and brown ink over faint black chalk traces, enhanced by precise vertical ruling lines, to sketch a pedestal—likely intended to support a statue or bust. The verso features a freer black chalk outline for the plan of a monument, showcasing the artist's versatility in shifting from detailed rendering to conceptual layout. At just 5¼ x 3⅝ inches, the compact format hints at a portable sketchbook page, a practical choice for on-site or studio ideation. This work highlights Baroque draftsmanship's role in translating bold visions into reality, where ink's fluidity captured dramatic flourishes and chalk allowed rapid exploration. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Elisha Whittelsey Collection, it offers visitors a glimpse into the creative process fueling Italy's gilded age of art and architecture.

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 ...