Design for a Vessel with Two Tritons Blowing Horns and a Winged Putto on Top

Art Historical Context

Giovanni Battista Foggini, prominent Florentine Baroque artist (1652–1725), created this intricate preparatory drawing as a design for an ornate vessel, likely intended for luxurious decorative arts like silver or bronze work commissioned by the Medici court. composition bursts with mythological exuberance: two muscular Tritons—merman-like sea deities— conch-shell horns, supporting a dynamic, winged putto perched triumphantly atop the vessel. This lively arrangement exemplifies Baroque ornamentation, blending classical mythology with playful, theatrical energy to evoke grandeur and movement. Executed in pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash over faint graphite underdrawing, the sheet (7 1/4 x 5 9/16 in.) showcases Foggini's masterful technique for architectural and ornamental sketches. The precise ink lines define contours and details, while the wash adds depth and shadow, creating a three-dimensional illusion on a small scale. Such drawings were essential in 17th-century Italian workshops, guiding artisans in crafting opulent objects for elite patrons. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this piece highlights Foggini's versatility as a sculptor, painter, and designer, bridging fine art and decorative crafts during the height of Baroque splendor in Tuscany. It invites visitors to appreciate how preparatory sketches fueled the era's lavish material culture.

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 ...