Design for a Salt Cellar and Tazza 

This drawing shows Francesco de' Rossi's designs for a salt cellar and tazza. A dance of classical motifs adorns these functional objects, transforming them into embodiments of cultural memory. Note the sphinxes supporting the salt cellar, guardians of ancient knowledge, repurposed here as symbols of refined taste. Above, figures of embracing children evoke Cupid and Psyche, love and the soul united. Similarly, the tazza is supported by caryatids, architectural figures that allude to Greek antiquity and a lineage of artistic influence. The symbolic weight of these figures shifts as they are translated across time. What was once divine becomes decorative, yet the emotional resonance remains. The erotic charge of embracing figures, the allure of feminine forms, and the protective stance of the sphinxes, all engage the viewer on a subconscious level, revealing how the past continues to shape our present. These classical forms resurface, evolving, as they traverse through history.