Artwork story
About Façade of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence, decorated with the emperor's arms, four figures of death flanking the three entrances, the two in center on horseback, a large angel above central door, from "Ceremonies for the Funeral of Emperor Ferdinand II" (Funérailles de l'empereur Ferdinand II)
The artist and artwork
Stefano della Bella etched this view of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence in 1637 as part of a printed record of ceremonies for the funeral of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. A related Met book record names Alfonso Parigi as designer of the catafalque and decorations and Francesco Rondinelli as author. The print therefore translates a collaborative, short-lived public installation into an image that could outlast the event.
The world around it
The funeral was celebrated at San Lorenzo on April 2, 1637, while the Thirty Years' War still divided Europe. Ferdinand II had been a central Catholic Habsburg ruler in that conflict; his death did not end it, and peace would not come until 1648. Florence was governed by the Medici rather than the emperor, yet the ceremony turned the Medici family's basilica into a stage for dynastic mourning and politics. Etched records like this carried the appearance of ephemeral cloth, emblems, sculpture, and ritual beyond the spectators who saw them in place.
A detail to notice
San Lorenzo's famously plain façade nearly disappears beneath a striped funeral skin. A crowned double-headed imperial eagle fills the upper center; garlands trace the sloping rooflines, and great cartouches hang above the side doors. Four figures of Death guard the entrances. The outer skeletons stand like sentries with long weapons, while the inner pair ride shaggy horses, turning mortality into a mounted honor guard. Above the central doorway, a winged angel blows a trumpet over an inscription panel. The living spectators below are tiny and loosely scattered: cloaked figures talk, walk, or face the doors, and a dog curls on the pavement at far right. This difference in scale makes the temporary decoration seem enormous, but the ordinary street activity prevents the print from becoming a diagram. Della Bella records both the official imperial message and the fleeting Florentine afternoon around it.
Look closer: materials, scale, and subjects
The recorded object is print; ornament & architecture made in Etching; second state of two and held in the Drawings and Prints department.
Recorded dimensions include Sheet: 9 9/16 x 8 9/16 in. (24.3 x 21.7 cm).
Subject terms include Architecture and Churches. Treat them as guideposts, not a complete interpretation.
Collection history and public-domain source
The collection credit line is Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011.
The individual artwork page and official image were verified as Public Domain on 2026-08-23.
No Context Gallery independently uses the public-domain image. The source museum has not endorsed, sponsored, or affiliated itself with these products.
Research sources
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