Innanzi tutto is also used by Italian scribes as 'despite everything'! If you get it I would like to see some pictures
Wait.despite everything would be "malgrado tutto".Innanzi tutto is(literally):in front of everything,but,in this case, has the same meaning,as Steven says,of first of all."innanzi" is an ancient word,and it stands for "in front of" or "prima"(before)Im not quite sure if "innanzi tutto" still belongs to the "Correct italian" category,i know for sure that innanzi was very used inFirenze,and still used by older generations,depending also in education.Common use here,is ,when talkin about whatever,someone says something wrong,adds Bs to it and pretends to be right,then,the other,would adopt a Pergolizzi gesture and body moves,saying:"Innazi tutto,Faliero wasnt from Milano ,but from FIrenze,actually he was from Sesto Fiorentino,right on Firenzes outskirt......"
Matteo"Datore Innanzi" Brandi-Santa Croce,Firenze-Italia