Design for the Base of the Silver Crucifix for the High Altar of Saint Peter's, Rome, Italy

Carlo Spagna, Italian, ca. 1641 - 1680 · 1670–72

Drawing in three registers. Upper register, garlands are suspended from a large mask which is flanked by open scrolls; central register, two male nudes (slave figures in the style of Michelangelo) rest neatly within each curving concave side of the base flanking a framed central oval medallion; lower register, volutes and lion paws with the Farnese crest at center. The left half of the sheet is more finished. Verso: Figures in a tondo. Left foreground, the Madonna is shown seated supporting the dead Christ in her lap; right foreground, the Magdalene kneels beside the Madonna behind which an unidentified figure stands. Left background, the Cross is faintly suggested. Upper edge of tondo, angels' heads.