Study for the 'Essequie' Conducted in San Lorenzo, Florence, in 1637 in Honour of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II
Medium
pen and brown ink and brown wash with graphite and accents of pink, purple-grey and deep blue-black wash
Dimensions
48.5 × 65.8 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund
Accession Number
2011.192
Tags
About this artwork
Alfonso Parigi was the official court architect for the Medici, taking over after the death of his father, the great engineer, architect, and designer Giulio Parigi. Testifying to the Medici's interest in cultivating a culture of the macabre, this sheet is an elaborate study for the essequie (funerary rites) for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. Skulls and skeletons commingle with angels and garlands, and black draperies would have been hung to transform the church into a strange, macabre wor...