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The most artistically significant of the four Cosma brothers was Giovanni di Cosma; at least three wall tombs with figures made by him are known from the last years of the 13th century. The most original, and the most impressive on account of its effigy, is that of Stefano de Surdis in Santa Balbina, Rome. The other tombs, that of Guillelmus Durandus (d 1296) in Santa Maria sopra Minerva and that of Cardinal Gonzalo García Gudiel (d 1299) in Santa Maria Maggiore, follow the model developed by Arnolfo di Cambio in the way the effigy of the deceased is shown lying on a bier. Giovanni di Cosma retained an independent approach as a sculptor, however, and his portrayal of the sunken features of age is realistic compared with the soft, slurred death portraits of Arnolfo.
The picture shows the tomb of Cardinal Consalvo Rodriguez. The mosaic above the effigy depicts the Virgin and Child Enthroned between St Jerome and St Matthew presenting the cardinal to the Virgin. It is a work from the circle of Pietro Cavallini.
Gonzalo García Gudiel (1238-1299), Archbishop of Toledo and Cardinal, died in Rome and was buried in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Two years later his remains were transferred to the Toledo cathedral.
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