(b Florence, 25 April 1652; d Florence, 12 April 1725). Italian sculptor and architect. The foremost Florentine sculptor of the late Baroque period, he was first apprenticed to two painters successively but soon showed a greater propensity for sculpture. In 1673 he was sent by the young Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de’ Medici, to study in the newly instituted Accademia Fiorentina in Rome. There he remained for three years, studying under Ercole Ferrata, a sculptor of the second Baroque generation, and Ciro Ferri, a painter who was a close follower of Pietro da Cortona. His precocious ability at this period is demonstrated in a terracotta relief of the Slaying of the Niobids (Florence, Mus. Opificio Pietre Dure & Lab. Rest. Opere A.); a marble relief of the Adoration of the Shepherds (St Petersburg, Hermitage); and a bronze relief of the Crucifixion (Florence, Pitti), until recently ascribed to the court sculptor of the day, Ferdinando Tacca. These early works established his characteristic style, a novel late Baroque manner that changed little throughout his career.

• Foggini, Giovanni Battista
  • Florence, §II, 2(ii): Art life and organization, c 1600–c 1800
  • Florence, §III, 2: Centre of hardstone production
  • Malta, §III, 3: Middle Ages and after: Sculpture
  • assistants
    • Fortini, Giovacchino
    • Marcellini, Carlo Andrea
    • Piamontini, Giuseppe
    • Soldani, Massimiliano, §2: (iii): After 1628: Decorative and monumental work
  • caskets
    • Hardstones, §3(iii): Renaissance and after
  • collaboration
    • Cateni, Giovanni Camillo
    • Reliquary, §I, 6(i): Post-medieval: Western Church
    • Silvani: (2) Pierfrancesco Silvani
    • Tomb, §VI, 3(ii): Western world, c 1600–c 1780: Changes in patronage
  • engravings
    • Medici, de’: (28) Ferdinando de’ Medici
  • patrons and collectors
    • Elhafen, Ignaz
    • Medici, de’: (27) Cosimo III de’ Medici
    • Medici, de’: (29) Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici
  • pupils
    • Baratta, Giovanni di Isidoro
      • Baratta: (3) Giovanni di Isidoro Baratta
    • Cornacchini, Agostino
      • Cornacchini, Agostino
      • Italy, §IV, 4(iii): Baroque sculpture, c 1600–c 1750: Florence and Tuscany
    • Fuga, Ferdinando
      • Fuga, Ferdinando, §1: Training and early career in Rome, before 1748
    • Galilei, Alessandro (Maria Gaetano)
      • Galilei, Alessandro, §1: Early life and career in England, before 1720
    • Ghinghi, Francesco
      • Ghinghi, Francesco
    • Rastrelli, Bartolomeo Carlo
      • Rastrelli: (1) Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli
    • Ticciati, Girolamo
      • Ticciati, Girolamo
    • Valle, Filippo della
      • Valle, Filippo della
    • Weber, Lorenzo Maria
      • Weber, Lorenzo Maria
  • sculpture
    • reliefs
      • Florence, §IV, 3: SS Annunziata
      • Torricelli, Giuseppe Antonio
    • statuettes
      • Statuette, §III, 1(i): 18th century: Italy
    • tomb
      • Goa
  • teachers
    • Ferrata, Ercole
    • Ferri, Ciro, §2: Rome, 1669–89