Design for a Wall Tomb or Monument (Recto); Smaller Variant Version with Half Length Madonna & Child on Crescent Moon (Verso) 1496 - 1528

Curator: What strikes you first about this sketch? The Metropolitan Museum holds this drawing titled "Design for a Wall Tomb or Monument" with a "Smaller Variant Version with Half Length Madonna & Child on Crescent Moon" on its back, made by Giovanni Francesco Penni around 1516. Editor: Its austere nature. A drawing for a tomb, yet seemingly so devoid of flourish. The economic conditions must have dictated quite limited materiality. Curator: Limited perhaps only by the medium used for the study, a print with pen and brown ink on paper. Note, however, how Penni integrates Christian imagery of the Madonna and Child. It reflects not only his training in Raphael’s workshop, but the persistent motifs in funerary art. Mary, as the Theotokos, signifies promise and renewal. Editor: You speak of the promise of "renewal" and the visual, however I focus on the design: look at the inscription ‘D.O.M.’ – Deo Optimo Maximo – and the rods for possible lamps. I wonder about the expense, in both materials and labor. Curator: A Renaissance preoccupation, certainly. I observe the Madonna is centrally positioned, but is not a figure of intense grief. This image differs greatly to others from this period. Perhaps the individual who was to be entombed was not an individual of prominence or royalty, therefore religious aspects took centre stage. Editor: The scale appears modest too, which confirms my initial instinct: less ornate means cheaper. Curator: Agreed, but also potentially signifies humility. By presenting a figure, centrally and symbolically, as the epitome of forgiveness and new beginnings perhaps Penni elevates her status within the monument, offering solace and perhaps the prospect of transcendence in a world that had become dominated by greed and avarice. Editor: An interesting counterpoint between sacred intent, artistic value, and material production all existing on the same plane. Curator: Indeed. It's an illustration of human experience that encapsulates a very transitional time.