Design for a Lady's Tomb
Medium
Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Dimensions
sheet: 17 5/16 x 11 9/16 in. (43.9 x 29.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.19.32
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Design for a Lady's* from 16th-century France captures the grandeur of Renaissance funerary architecture. Attributed to the circle of Jacques Androuet Cerceau—a pioneering French architect and engraver known for his influential pattern books—or an anonymous contemporary, the drawing depicts an elaborate tomb structure adorned with human figures, evoking classical motifs adapted to aristocratic memorials. During this era, such designs symbolized eternal legacy and piety, blending Gothic traditions with emerging Italian Renaissance influences like symmetry, columns, and sculpted ...