Design for an Epitaph
Design for an Epitaph

Currently not on view

Design for an Epitaph,

ca. 1757

Ignaz Günther, German, 1725–1775
2009-85
This design for an epitaph represents an early stage in the Bavarian sculptor Franz Ignaz Günther’s plans for a funeral monument to Baron Johann Nepomuk Joseph Zech. The fully realized sculpture is now visible in the Church of Johann-Nepomuk in Munich, more commonly known as the Asamkirche. Details such as the crying cherub, first conceived in this preliminary drawing but abandoned in intermediate phases of drafted plans, return in the completed monument. Chromatic washes indicate the type of material to be employed in the monument: a transparent gray represents the stone to be used in the main plaque, while yellow indicates gilded sculptural detail.

Information

Title
Design for an Epitaph
Dates

ca. 1757

Maker
Ignaz Günther
Medium
Pen and grey ink with watercolor over graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 21.7 x 13.5 cm (8 9/16 x 5 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund
Object Number
2009-85
Culture
German
Type
designs, drawings
Materials
graphite, laid paper, ink, watercolor
Subject
putti, skeleton, epitaphs

Purchased by Princeton University Art Museum

Sketch for an Epitaph

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