Tomb Monument to the Wife of the Sculptor Nahl, Swiss Lithograph, 1842

An original antique lithograph from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842), printed in black with a warm buff tint over the stone. The single image shows a carved upright slab split by a deep crack that runs from top to bottom. Through the opening rises a young woman, her head turned upward and one arm raised, with an infant clinging to her and drapery falling to her feet; her long hair falls loose over her shoulders. A crown sits at the top of the slab. On either side is an oval cartouche framed by feathers: the left with a cross, a crescent and a star, the right with a star above a skull and crossed bones. Rococo scrolls and acanthus leaves border the slab, and a skull with crossed bones lies at its foot.

The lettering reads "Tav. 64" at upper left, "SVIZZERA" in the center and "Tom: IV" at upper right. The caption reads "Monumento sepolcrale della Moglie dello Scultore Nahl." (Tomb monument of the wife of the sculptor Nahl).

The woman and child breaking out of the split slab illustrate the resurrection of the dead, set against the skull and bones of a memento mori.

The quiet, nearly monochrome tones make this a thoughtful print for a study or library, where it sits well beside other prints of sculpture, architecture and funerary monuments of the eighteenth century style.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.