.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
IMPORTANTE COLLECTION ARISTOCRATIQUE EUROPÉENNE
ITALIE, FLORENCE, ATELIERS GRANDS-DUCAUX SOUS LA DIRECTION DE GIOVANNI BATTISTA FOGGINI (1652-1725), DÉBUT DU XVIIIE SIÈCLE
Annonciation
Details
ITALIE, FLORENCE, ATELIERS GRANDS-DUCAUX SOUS LA DIRECTION DE GIOVANNI BATTISTA FOGGINI (1652-1725), DÉBUT DU XVIIIE SIÈCLE
Annonciation
plaque en marqueterie de pierres dures, certains éléments gravés et en léger relief, titrée "Madonna Siriissima (?) Maria della Gratie" et un livre ouvert inscrit "ECCE VIRGO CONCIPIET ET PARIET FILIUM" dans un cadre en marbre, améthyste, jaspe vert et bronze doré sur une âme de bois, au revers une étiquette imprimée au A couronné, avec l'inscription bleue "A84"
Dim. cadre : 53 x 61 cm (20 7⁄8 x 24 in.)
Dim. plaque : 37 x 45,5 cm (14 5⁄8 x 17 7⁄8 in.)
Annonciation
plaque en marqueterie de pierres dures, certains éléments gravés et en léger relief, titrée "Madonna Siriissima (?) Maria della Gratie" et un livre ouvert inscrit "ECCE VIRGO CONCIPIET ET PARIET FILIUM" dans un cadre en marbre, améthyste, jaspe vert et bronze doré sur une âme de bois, au revers une étiquette imprimée au A couronné, avec l'inscription bleue "A84"
Dim. cadre : 53 x 61 cm (20 7⁄8 x 24 in.)
Dim. plaque : 37 x 45,5 cm (14 5⁄8 x 17 7⁄8 in.)
Provenance
Probablement Antónia de Portugal (1845-1913), infante de Portugal, princesse de Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, et duchesse de Saxe.
Collection aristocratique européenne.
Collection aristocratique européenne.
Literature
Bibliographie comparative :
K. Lankheit, Florentinische Barockplastick. Die kunst am hofe der Letzten Medici 1670-1743, Munich, 1962, pp. 225-226.
A. M. Giusti, P. Mazzoni, A. Pampaloni Martelli, Il museo dell’Opificio delle pietre dure a Firenze, Milan, 1978, p. 307, cat. 326-328, fig. 296 ; cat. 145, fig. 164.
U. Baldini, A. M. Giusti, A. Pampaloni Martelli, La Capella die Principi e le pietre dure a Firenze, Milan, 1979, pp. 278-279, cat. 79-80, fig. 100-101.
A. M. Giusti (dir.), Splendori di pietre dure. L’arte di corte nella Firenze dei Granduchi, Florence, 1988, pp. 170-171, cat. 42 ; pp. 178-179, cat. 46.
A. M. Giusti, Pietre dure. L’arte Europea del mosaico negli arredie nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800, Turin, 1992, p.289, fig. 112.
A. M. Giusti, Pietre dure. Hardstone in furniture and decorations, Londres, 1992, p. 234, pl. 118 ; p. 242, fig. 89 ; p. 289, fig. 112.
A. González-Palacios, Il gusto dei principi. Arte di corte del XVIIe del XVIII secolo, Milan, 1993, t.1, pp. 150-151, p. 154, note 53 ; et t.2, pp. 135-138, cat. 230-234 ; p. 395, cat. 772-774 ; p. 398, cat. 778-779.
A. M. Giusti (dir.), Guida al Museo. Opificio delle pietre dure di Firenze, Florence/Venise, 1995, p. 44-45, fig. 16.
A. González-Palacios, Pittura per l’eternità. Le collezioni reali spagnole di mosaici e pietre dure, Milan, 2003, cat. 26, pp. 152-155.
W. Koeppe et A.M. Giusti (dir.), Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, cat. exp. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008, dont fig. 26-27, p. 22 ; cat. 58, pp. 205-206 ; cat. 110-112, pp. 291-294.
K. d’Alburquerque (dir.), Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725), premier sculpteur à la cour de Cosme III de Médicis. Un fonds inédit de dessins, Maurizio Nobile, Bologna and Paris, 2016, p. 7.
K. Lankheit, Florentinische Barockplastick. Die kunst am hofe der Letzten Medici 1670-1743, Munich, 1962, pp. 225-226.
A. M. Giusti, P. Mazzoni, A. Pampaloni Martelli, Il museo dell’Opificio delle pietre dure a Firenze, Milan, 1978, p. 307, cat. 326-328, fig. 296 ; cat. 145, fig. 164.
U. Baldini, A. M. Giusti, A. Pampaloni Martelli, La Capella die Principi e le pietre dure a Firenze, Milan, 1979, pp. 278-279, cat. 79-80, fig. 100-101.
A. M. Giusti (dir.), Splendori di pietre dure. L’arte di corte nella Firenze dei Granduchi, Florence, 1988, pp. 170-171, cat. 42 ; pp. 178-179, cat. 46.
A. M. Giusti, Pietre dure. L’arte Europea del mosaico negli arredie nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800, Turin, 1992, p.289, fig. 112.
A. M. Giusti, Pietre dure. Hardstone in furniture and decorations, Londres, 1992, p. 234, pl. 118 ; p. 242, fig. 89 ; p. 289, fig. 112.
A. González-Palacios, Il gusto dei principi. Arte di corte del XVIIe del XVIII secolo, Milan, 1993, t.1, pp. 150-151, p. 154, note 53 ; et t.2, pp. 135-138, cat. 230-234 ; p. 395, cat. 772-774 ; p. 398, cat. 778-779.
A. M. Giusti (dir.), Guida al Museo. Opificio delle pietre dure di Firenze, Florence/Venise, 1995, p. 44-45, fig. 16.
A. González-Palacios, Pittura per l’eternità. Le collezioni reali spagnole di mosaici e pietre dure, Milan, 2003, cat. 26, pp. 152-155.
W. Koeppe et A.M. Giusti (dir.), Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, cat. exp. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008, dont fig. 26-27, p. 22 ; cat. 58, pp. 205-206 ; cat. 110-112, pp. 291-294.
K. d’Alburquerque (dir.), Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725), premier sculpteur à la cour de Cosme III de Médicis. Un fonds inédit de dessins, Maurizio Nobile, Bologna and Paris, 2016, p. 7.
Further Details
A PIETRA DURA PANEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION, ITALIAN, FLORENTINE, GRAND DUCAL WORKSHOPS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF GIOVANNI BATTISTA FOGGINI (1652-1725), EARLY 18TH CENTURY
This pietra dura panel, a remarkable rediscovery from a European aristocratic collection, epitomizes the zenith of a uniquely Florentine artistic tradition that helped project Medicean power and prestige throughout Europe.
The Annunciation: A Masterpiece of the Grand-Ducal Workshops
Following in the wake of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, Rome and, subsequently, Florence emerged during the 16th century as major centers for the art of hardstone inlay. In 1588, Grand Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici (1549-1609) founded the Galleria dei Lavori, then housed in one of the wings of the Uffizi. The institution survives today as the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. From the production of luxury decorative objects to ambitious official architectural programmes such as the Chapel of the Princes (Cappella dei Principi) in the church of San Lorenzo, the workshop was, from its inception, placed at the service of Grand-Ducal authority. It also became a powerful diplomatic instrument, enabling members of the Medici family to commission and present sumptuous gifts of exceptional refinement.
The subject of the Annunciation recurs throughout Florentine artistic production, yet representations on a scale comparable to our panel remain exceedingly rare.
Its source of inspiration lies in the celebrated 14th century fresco in the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in Florence, whose authorship and dating remain the subject of scholarly debate. Since the mid-15th century, tradition has maintained that the painter Bartolomeo discovered one morning that the faces of his composition had miraculously been completed through divine intervention. This fresco has been the object of deep Florentine veneration since the Trecento and was subsequently embellished with a frame and an altar, evidence of an enduring devotional fervour. It became an obligatory destination for visitors to the city. Such was its prestige that Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici personally introduced distinguished guests to the celebrated image. Thus, during the visit of Margravine Sibylle Augusta of Baden in 1719, he escorted her to the revered fresco before presenting her, a few months later, with the Annunciation painting now preserved in Karlsruhe, to which we shall return below.
Our panel closely follows the composition of the fresco, replicating its open architectural setting, the positioning of the figures, and even its chromatic harmonies.
A rare watercolour drawing preserved in the archives of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure sheds light on the creative process employed by Florentine craftsmen, who customarily prepared a full-scale cartoon, or study, before translating a design into stone inlay (A. M. Giusti, 1992, p. 289, fig. 112).
In her landmark study Pietre dure. L'arte Europea del mosaico negli arredi e nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800, the art historian and specialist Anna Maria Giusti reproduces the study and associates it with a plaque preserved in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (inv. E-26). The rediscovery of the present Annunciation panel and its comparison with this study invite a reassessment of that hypothesis. Indeed, our plaque can confidently be regarded as the finished realization of the design. Despite a number of simplifications, several crucial details correspond precisely between the drawing and our panel while being absent from the Hermitage plaque: the title inscribed within a lower cartouche beneath a rock-crystal cover; the ornamentation of the capitals; the Middle Eastern-inspired motifs of the carpet, including the bird or dragon enclosed within an octagon; and the prominent battlements visible beneath God the Father. These elements strongly support the identification of our plaque as the final execution of the surviving drawing.
Only three plaques depicting this subject are currently recorded: the present example, published here for the first time and formerly belonging to a major European aristocratic collection; the Hermitage version; and the plaque formerly in the collection of the Marquesa de Aldama (Bonhams, London, 12 December 2013, lot 17).
Foggini, Torricelli, Borghesi and Ghinghi: Artists, Sculptors and Lapidaries in the Service of Florence and the European Courts
Within the Grand-Ducal workshops, the Annunciation composition was adapted into a simplified format showing only the Virgin and the Angel represented half-length within oval medallions, mounted as easel pictures and wall-mounted stoups intended for private devotion. The earliest dated example may be the picture conceived by Giovanni Battista Foggini and presented by Grand Duke Cosimo III to Pope Innocent XII in 1700 on the occasion of the Jubilee (Vatican Museums, inv. 4815).
Two nearly identical stoups, featuring richly gilt-bronze mounts and medallions executed in higher relief, have been attributed to Foggini and Torricelli. One is preserved at the Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure (inv. 1905, no. 1615), while the other belongs to the Palazzo Pitti (inv. O.d.A., Pitti, 1911, no. 805). Another stoup, today also in the Palazzo Pitti, incorporates smooth hardstone plaques within a gilt-bronze frame adorned with angels designed by Foggini (inv. O.d.A., Pitti, 1911, no. 837). It formed part of a commission ordered by Cosimo III de' Medici and presented between 1704 and 1707 to his daughter Anna Maria Luisa, wife of the Elector Palatine, who resided in Düsseldorf. It was accompanied by a prie-Dieu (inv. O.d.A., Pitti, 1911, no. 836) and a cabinet. The Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure also preserves a completely smooth hardstone plaque with the Annunciation signed by Baccio Cappelli and dated 1727 (inv. 466).
Around 1720, Foggini collaborated with Francesco Borghesi on an Annunciation panel surmounted by the Holy Spirit, presented by Cosimo III de' Medici to the Princess of Baden (Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, inv. 78⁄52).
The diffusion of this Florentine style may also be observed in the plaque produced by the Royal Workshop of Naples in collaboration with the Italian Francesco Ghinghi, who carved the hardstone elements. Dating from circa 1740-1750, this octagonal framed panel follows a closely related model with an Annunciation (Palacio Real, Madrid, inv. 10010109).
Although these comparisons may contribute to the attribution of the present plaque, no definitive authorship can currently be proposed, notwithstanding the near certainty that the overall direction of the project was entrusted to Foggini.
The Florentine artist Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725) studied drawing under Vincenzo Dandini and sculpture with his uncle Jacopo Maria Foggini before travelling to Rome in 1673 at the request of Cosimo III de' Medici. There, he trained under Ciro Ferri and Ercole Ferrata within the academy established by the Grand Duke. Upon his return to Florence in 1677, he executed sculptures for numerous churches and worked for the Medici on decorative programmes at both Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Medici Riccardi. He also supplied designs for works of goldsmithery, including the paliotto (altar frontal) of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata. Appointed first Chief Sculptor and subsequently First Architect and Director of the Grand-Ducal workshops from 1695 onwards, Foggini designed, modelled and carved both marble and stone in a studio that also possessed its own foundry.
This accomplished artist should therefore be considered the most likely supervisor of the execution of the present plaque and perhaps also the designer of its frame, which appears to be original. Constructed of marble and amethyst, enriched with gilt-bronze fillets mounted on a wooden core, the frame complements the exceptional quality of the hardstone inlay itself.
Comparison with the related works discussed above leaves little doubt as to the superior quality of the stones employed here and the extraordinary mastery demonstrated in their cutting and assembly. The vertically banded jasper used for the curtain; the various shades of brown jasper creating the illusion of different wood species in the door, throne and bench; the amethyst of the frame echoed by the Angel's cloud; and the intricate design of the carpet and its ornamental motifs all underscore the importance of this plaque within the production of the Florentine workshops.
The subtle low relief of the figures recalls a number of carved heads still preserved in Florence (Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, inv. 617-618; illustrated in A. M. Giusti et al., 1978) and suggests the hand of Giuseppe Antonio Torricelli (1659-1719), one of the foremost masters of relief carving. The lightly recessed halos with radiating channels and the refined treatment of the surfaces closely parallel those found on the Vatican plaque. Mention should also be made of Francesco Borghesi, who worked on the medallions of the Baden stoup, as well as another pupil of Foggini, Francesco Ghinghi, whose later production in Naples, however, departs stylistically from the present work.
A masterpiece of the Grand-Ducal workshops, this plaque ranks among the most sumptuous works commissioned by the Medici to reinforce dynastic ties and forge political alliances. Combining exceptional virtuosity in hardstone inlay, refined sculptural relief and a prestigious devotional subject deeply rooted in Florentine identity, it stands as a remarkable testament to the artistic and diplomatic ambitions of Medicean Florence.
This pietra dura panel, a remarkable rediscovery from a European aristocratic collection, epitomizes the zenith of a uniquely Florentine artistic tradition that helped project Medicean power and prestige throughout Europe.
The Annunciation: A Masterpiece of the Grand-Ducal Workshops
Following in the wake of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, Rome and, subsequently, Florence emerged during the 16th century as major centers for the art of hardstone inlay. In 1588, Grand Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici (1549-1609) founded the Galleria dei Lavori, then housed in one of the wings of the Uffizi. The institution survives today as the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. From the production of luxury decorative objects to ambitious official architectural programmes such as the Chapel of the Princes (Cappella dei Principi) in the church of San Lorenzo, the workshop was, from its inception, placed at the service of Grand-Ducal authority. It also became a powerful diplomatic instrument, enabling members of the Medici family to commission and present sumptuous gifts of exceptional refinement.
The subject of the Annunciation recurs throughout Florentine artistic production, yet representations on a scale comparable to our panel remain exceedingly rare.
Its source of inspiration lies in the celebrated 14th century fresco in the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in Florence, whose authorship and dating remain the subject of scholarly debate. Since the mid-15th century, tradition has maintained that the painter Bartolomeo discovered one morning that the faces of his composition had miraculously been completed through divine intervention. This fresco has been the object of deep Florentine veneration since the Trecento and was subsequently embellished with a frame and an altar, evidence of an enduring devotional fervour. It became an obligatory destination for visitors to the city. Such was its prestige that Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici personally introduced distinguished guests to the celebrated image. Thus, during the visit of Margravine Sibylle Augusta of Baden in 1719, he escorted her to the revered fresco before presenting her, a few months later, with the Annunciation painting now preserved in Karlsruhe, to which we shall return below.
Our panel closely follows the composition of the fresco, replicating its open architectural setting, the positioning of the figures, and even its chromatic harmonies.
A rare watercolour drawing preserved in the archives of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure sheds light on the creative process employed by Florentine craftsmen, who customarily prepared a full-scale cartoon, or study, before translating a design into stone inlay (A. M. Giusti, 1992, p. 289, fig. 112).
In her landmark study Pietre dure. L'arte Europea del mosaico negli arredi e nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800, the art historian and specialist Anna Maria Giusti reproduces the study and associates it with a plaque preserved in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (inv. E-26). The rediscovery of the present Annunciation panel and its comparison with this study invite a reassessment of that hypothesis. Indeed, our plaque can confidently be regarded as the finished realization of the design. Despite a number of simplifications, several crucial details correspond precisely between the drawing and our panel while being absent from the Hermitage plaque: the title inscribed within a lower cartouche beneath a rock-crystal cover; the ornamentation of the capitals; the Middle Eastern-inspired motifs of the carpet, including the bird or dragon enclosed within an octagon; and the prominent battlements visible beneath God the Father. These elements strongly support the identification of our plaque as the final execution of the surviving drawing.
Only three plaques depicting this subject are currently recorded: the present example, published here for the first time and formerly belonging to a major European aristocratic collection; the Hermitage version; and the plaque formerly in the collection of the Marquesa de Aldama (Bonhams, London, 12 December 2013, lot 17).
Foggini, Torricelli, Borghesi and Ghinghi: Artists, Sculptors and Lapidaries in the Service of Florence and the European Courts
Within the Grand-Ducal workshops, the Annunciation composition was adapted into a simplified format showing only the Virgin and the Angel represented half-length within oval medallions, mounted as easel pictures and wall-mounted stoups intended for private devotion. The earliest dated example may be the picture conceived by Giovanni Battista Foggini and presented by Grand Duke Cosimo III to Pope Innocent XII in 1700 on the occasion of the Jubilee (Vatican Museums, inv. 4815).
Two nearly identical stoups, featuring richly gilt-bronze mounts and medallions executed in higher relief, have been attributed to Foggini and Torricelli. One is preserved at the Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure (inv. 1905, no. 1615), while the other belongs to the Palazzo Pitti (inv. O.d.A., Pitti, 1911, no. 805). Another stoup, today also in the Palazzo Pitti, incorporates smooth hardstone plaques within a gilt-bronze frame adorned with angels designed by Foggini (inv. O.d.A., Pitti, 1911, no. 837). It formed part of a commission ordered by Cosimo III de' Medici and presented between 1704 and 1707 to his daughter Anna Maria Luisa, wife of the Elector Palatine, who resided in Düsseldorf. It was accompanied by a prie-Dieu (inv. O.d.A., Pitti, 1911, no. 836) and a cabinet. The Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure also preserves a completely smooth hardstone plaque with the Annunciation signed by Baccio Cappelli and dated 1727 (inv. 466).
Around 1720, Foggini collaborated with Francesco Borghesi on an Annunciation panel surmounted by the Holy Spirit, presented by Cosimo III de' Medici to the Princess of Baden (Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, inv. 78⁄52).
The diffusion of this Florentine style may also be observed in the plaque produced by the Royal Workshop of Naples in collaboration with the Italian Francesco Ghinghi, who carved the hardstone elements. Dating from circa 1740-1750, this octagonal framed panel follows a closely related model with an Annunciation (Palacio Real, Madrid, inv. 10010109).
Although these comparisons may contribute to the attribution of the present plaque, no definitive authorship can currently be proposed, notwithstanding the near certainty that the overall direction of the project was entrusted to Foggini.
The Florentine artist Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725) studied drawing under Vincenzo Dandini and sculpture with his uncle Jacopo Maria Foggini before travelling to Rome in 1673 at the request of Cosimo III de' Medici. There, he trained under Ciro Ferri and Ercole Ferrata within the academy established by the Grand Duke. Upon his return to Florence in 1677, he executed sculptures for numerous churches and worked for the Medici on decorative programmes at both Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Medici Riccardi. He also supplied designs for works of goldsmithery, including the paliotto (altar frontal) of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata. Appointed first Chief Sculptor and subsequently First Architect and Director of the Grand-Ducal workshops from 1695 onwards, Foggini designed, modelled and carved both marble and stone in a studio that also possessed its own foundry.
This accomplished artist should therefore be considered the most likely supervisor of the execution of the present plaque and perhaps also the designer of its frame, which appears to be original. Constructed of marble and amethyst, enriched with gilt-bronze fillets mounted on a wooden core, the frame complements the exceptional quality of the hardstone inlay itself.
Comparison with the related works discussed above leaves little doubt as to the superior quality of the stones employed here and the extraordinary mastery demonstrated in their cutting and assembly. The vertically banded jasper used for the curtain; the various shades of brown jasper creating the illusion of different wood species in the door, throne and bench; the amethyst of the frame echoed by the Angel's cloud; and the intricate design of the carpet and its ornamental motifs all underscore the importance of this plaque within the production of the Florentine workshops.
The subtle low relief of the figures recalls a number of carved heads still preserved in Florence (Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure, inv. 617-618; illustrated in A. M. Giusti et al., 1978) and suggests the hand of Giuseppe Antonio Torricelli (1659-1719), one of the foremost masters of relief carving. The lightly recessed halos with radiating channels and the refined treatment of the surfaces closely parallel those found on the Vatican plaque. Mention should also be made of Francesco Borghesi, who worked on the medallions of the Baden stoup, as well as another pupil of Foggini, Francesco Ghinghi, whose later production in Naples, however, departs stylistically from the present work.
A masterpiece of the Grand-Ducal workshops, this plaque ranks among the most sumptuous works commissioned by the Medici to reinforce dynastic ties and forge political alliances. Combining exceptional virtuosity in hardstone inlay, refined sculptural relief and a prestigious devotional subject deeply rooted in Florentine identity, it stands as a remarkable testament to the artistic and diplomatic ambitions of Medicean Florence.
Presentado por
Hippolyte de la Féronnière
Head of European Furniture Department