NACCHERINO, Michelangelo
(b. 1550, Firenze, d. 1622, Napoli)

Tomb of Fabrizio Pignatelli (detail)

1590-1606
Bronze and marble
Santa Maria dei Pellegrini, Naples

In the pietistic climate of the Spanish dominion, Naccherino's figures are often imbued with a wholly un-Florentine religious mood and a mystic sensibility, eloquent testimonies of the spirit of Counter-Reformation. Characteristic examples are his tombs of Fabrizio Pignatelli (1590-1609, Santa Maria dei Pellegrini), Vincenzo Carafa (1611, Santi Severino e Sosio), and Annibale Cesareo (1613, Santa Maria della Pazienza). In all these tombs the deceased is represented standing or kneeling, one hand pressed against the chest in devotional fervour. Naccherino anticipated here a type of sepulchral monument that was to become of vital importance in the different atmosphere of Rome during the 1630s and 1640s.