Two Sections of a Columbarium
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over ruling in graphite
Dimensions
12-11/16 x 17-3/8 in. (32.3 x 44.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960
Accession Number
60.632.56
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 18th century, architect and draftsman Pietro Paolo Cocc (also known as Coc) captured intricate designs for funerary architecture in *Two Sections of a Columb* (1710–27). This detailed drawing presents cross-sectional views of a columbarium—a classical structure with niches for cremation urns, evoking ancient Roman tombs while adapting to Baroque-era grandeur. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it how architects visualized multi-level spaces for the deceased, blending utility with ornate symmetry. Coccetti employed a meticulous technique typ...
About the Artist
Pietro Paolo Coccetti (Cocchetti) · 1710–1727
Pietro Paolo Coccetti, also recorded as Cocchetti, was an Italian artist whose career was brief by any measure — the dates associated with him span only the years 1710 to 1727, suggesting either a very short life or a period of documented activity that represents only a fraction of his actual career. He worked within the Italian tradition of the eighteenth century, a period of great vitality in th...