CATAFALCHI DI CARTA. IL CASTELLO DI DOLORE A MODENA NELLA PRIMA METÀ DEL SEICENTO.

By using unpublished documents, the essay retraces the funerals that were officiated in Modena during the first half of the seventeenth century and investigates, for the first time, the ceremonials and catafalques built in honour of Alfonso II (1599), Virginia de' Medici (1615), Isabella of Savoy (1626), Cesare d'Este (1629), Maria Farnese (1646) and Vittoria Farnese (1649). The contribution shows the decorative choices made for the Este family funerals, the iconographies in honour of the departed and the names of the artists who created them. The study includes the reports of the XVII century chronicles and contributions of ambassadors who took part in the Este ceremonies to demonstrate the high political meaning of the ephemeral funerary conceived and developed in the ducal court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]