Sheet with Various Designs for Tables and a Funerary Monument 1652 - 1725

This sheet of sketches was created by Giovanni Battista Foggini in the late 17th or early 18th century using pen and brown ink with brush and gray wash on paper. Foggini was a key figure of the Florentine Baroque, deeply involved in the cultural and political life of the city. These designs, straddling the domestic and the sacred, invite us to consider the hierarchies of his time. Each flourish and curve speaks to a society structured by power and patronage. The elaborate tables suggest private spaces of wealth and influence, while the funerary monument points to public displays of status and remembrance. Consider, what did it mean to live in a world where even the objects of daily life proclaimed one's position? Foggini's elegant lines remind us that even in the most ornamental designs, there are choices that reflect societal values, personal experiences, and the weight of history.