Lucretia Pompeia

myminifactory

Giovan Battista Foggini was a towering figure in Florence's artistic scene around 1700, standing alongside Soldani as one of the city's most influential sculptors. With his impressive dual career as architect and sculptor, Foggini rose to prominence when he was appointed Court Sculptor to the Medici family in 1687 and First Architect just seven years later. The innovative sculptor introduced Roman Baroque influences to Florentine sculpture, a style he honed while training at the newly formed Accademia Fiorentina in Rome. As part of his official duties to the Medici, Foggini oversaw the Borgo Pinti foundry and is perhaps best known today for his exquisite bronzes. He was also responsible for the Galleria dei Lavori, a workshop that produced the famous Florentine hardstone commessi, which he adorned with a refined sense of sumptuous ornamentation and sculptural integrity. This distinct style is also reflected in his extensive corpus of drawings. Despite being hindered by physical limitations stemming from a childhood disease, Foggini managed to create a small but impressive body of large-scale marble works, including the Corsini Chapel in S. Maria del Carmine, the Feroni Chapel in SS. Annunziata, and the monument to Galileo Galilei in Santa Croce, all located in Florence. It is these large-scale marble works, along with Foggini's marble busts, that serve as a benchmark for attributing the present exceptional marble figures. The sumptuous marble bust of Ferdinando de' Medici in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, dated to the early 1680s, exhibits several similarities with the figure of Lucretia, particularly in its focus on the contrasts between smooth skin and broad hair carving, treated with a matte finish. The attention to detail in the richly carved lace worn by the Grand Duke is paralleled by the precise carving of the decorative urn placed next to Pompeia Paulina. The scale of the present pair of marble Roman tragic heroines appears to be unique in Foggini's known oeuvre, but comparisons for the depiction of standing female figures can be found in the two allegorical figures flanking the tomb of Galileo Galilei. Although monumental in size, these figures share a swaying contrapposto with the present marbles, voluminous drapery arranged in sharp, broad folds, and small heads twisted upwards with imploring expressions. The more complex arrangement of drapery of Lucretia finds direct similarities with the bunched folds on the seated allegorical female figures in the Feroni Chapel. A wax model of Pompeia Paulina is recorded in the catalogues of the Doccia factory as by Giovan Battista Foggini, but this attribution has been contested by Sandro Bellesi in favor of an attribution to the Lombard sculptor Antonio Calegari. However, since Calegari would have been too young to have created a model that would have had such international influence by 1720, when Plumier's painting was executed, it is likely that Foggini was indeed the artist responsible for this model. These marbles were reputedly once in the Villa La Tana Ricasoli, the residence of Pietro Bonaventura and Bianca Cappello, the mistress of Francesco I de' Medici. Purchased in 1631 by Leon Francesco Pasquale Ricasoli, the villa was renovated by Giulio Foggini, the brother of Giovan Battista Foggini. Lucretia and Pompeia Paulina represent a noble feminine pairing of high moral Roman tragic heroines. They must have been commissioned from Foggini with a specific instructive intention. The Story of Lucretia The death of Lucretia has been regarded as a catalyst for the fall of the Roman monarchy and subsequent establishment of the Republic around 509 BC. The wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, governor of Collatia, Lucretia's rape by the Etruscan Sextus Tarquinius, a son of the king of Rome, is an historical legend that is told in different versions. After Tarquin's assault, Lucretia beseeched her father and husband for revenge. Whilst debating their response, Lucretia killed herself by plunging a dagger into her heart. Her noble self-sacrifice inspired the Romans with admiration and compassion to rise up and overthrow the monarchy. Foggini depicts Lucretia in dramatic action as if her decision to take her life after her confession is sudden and spontaneous. As she turns her head, it appears as though her final cry is for justice and revenge.