|
The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.
The picture shows the Death of Della Torre. The scene is set in an interior space and is lit by torches. A large group of family and friends is gathered around the professor as his body is laid to rest upon his death bed. At the foot of the bed stands a priest, donned in more contemporary clothing than the other figures and holding an open book; he appears to have given the last rites.
| 
