Poggi monument

The monument is dedicated to Francesco Poggi, a Genoese of modest origins who reached a high social status thanks to his commitment to work. The work differs from the traditional funerary representation focused on the theme of detachment and is based on the allegorical theme explained in the motto “Non Fortuna sed Labor” (not with luck but with work) carved on the page of the marble book open at the foot of the basis of the composition. Above the porphyry sarcophagus Fortune and Work are represented: the first, accompanied by the symbolic wheel, tears the blindfold from the eyes with the right hand and with the left holds a twig of laurel and a cornucopia that faces the Work. In this representation Fortuna does not blindly dispense assets, but appreciates the merit of the Work, here portrayed with its face turned to Fortune while sitting on a silk bale and a small barrel next to some ears and a scythe.