The Tomb of a Bishop (1540/45): Artwork and History

The Tomb of a Bishop (1540/45) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Battista Angolo del Moro (Italian, c.1515-c.1573) after Parmigianino (Italian, 1503-1540).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

During the Counter-Reformation, the sense of touch influenced religious experience as much as if not more than sight. In this etching of a bishop’s elaborate sculptural resting place, the sorrowing putti embrace the effigy of the deceased and weave their hands and arms in and out of holes in the base of the sarcophagus. Parmigianino’s elongated bodies accentuate the tactility of the composition and contribute to the composition’s emotional resonance. While the bishop’s identity remains unknown (and he may have been imaginary), the monumentality of his sepulchre and the relief panel below showing his investiture hint at his historical importance.

Object facts

• Title: The Tomb of a Bishop
• Date: 1540/45
• Artist attribution: Battista Angolo del Moro (Italian, c.1515-c.1573) after Parmigianino (Italian, 1503-1540)
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Etching on paper
• Dimensions: 36 × 25.2 cm (14 3/16 × 9 15/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1960.338

Collection credit

Charles Greene Fund

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.