Funeral Ceremony for Francesco de Medici in the St Lawrence Church in Florence

This etching was the first in a large number of prints in which Stefano della Bella treated the theme of death. The image shows a funeral ceremony of Francesco de’Medici, who died of the plague during a military campaign near Graz. The print was executed as a frontispiece to the book of Andrea Cavalcanti, Esequie del Serenissimo Principe Francesco. Celebrate in Fiorenza dal Serenissimo Ferdinando II Granduca di Toscano, suo Fratello. Along with a portrait of Francesco, the engraver also etched eight emblems with the motif of death for this book edition.