The Deaths of the Blessed Ugoccione and Sostegno (recto); A Study of the Farnese Hercules (verso) Gm-00012701

Bernardino Poccetti (Barbatelli) (Italian, 1548–1612) While two angels flutter overhead, ready to guide their souls into heaven, the bodies of the blessed monks Ugoccione and Sostegno lie in state surrounded by other brethren of the Servite Order. To give the scene a sense of greater depth, Bernardino Poccetti used a rather broad and deep spatial arrangement. The arched ceiling draws the viewer's eye into the setting, while contrasting patches of dark shadow and light keep it moving. A monastery commissioned Poccetti to produce a series of fourteen frescoes with scenes from the lives of the monastery's founders, and he made this elaborate study for one of them.

On the verso of the sheet, another artist, possibly Giovanni Navarretti, sketched a study of the Farnese Hercules.