LYING IN STATE
[GAVARD, Franz.]
‘Ritratto di Francesco Gavard Tedesco, figlio del quondam Claudio Gavard, di anni 45. Morto in Ro.ma nel Ospedale di S. Spirito, li 4. aprile 1787. Trasportato nella V.le chies. di S. Michele in Borgo’.
Rome, ‘si stampeno [sic] incontro il Palazzo di Fiorenza’, [1787].
Copper-engraved Andachtsbild (145 x 210 mm, platemark 120 x 180 mm); two minute wormholes, slight creasing where folded, else very good.
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‘Ritratto di Francesco Gavard Tedesco, figlio del quondam Claudio Gavard, di anni 45. Morto in Ro.ma nel Ospedale di S. Spirito, li 4. aprile 1787. Trasportato nella V.le chies. di S. Michele in Borgo’.
Seemingly unrecorded popular engraving depicting Franz Gavard of Wurzburg lying in state, a pious man who moved to Rome and whose body was displayed for three days after his death.
Born in Wurzburg to Catholic parents, Gavard studied literature and left his homeland to dedicate himself to God in Rome, where he lived in humble basement lodgings near the Vatican. Known for his piety, modesty, and dedication to giving alms, he was hospitalised at Santo Spirito on 15 February 1787 with a fever, and died there on 4 April at the age of forty-five.
Shortly after his death he was taken to ‘questa chiesa dedicate in onore dei Santi Michele Arcangelo, e Magno Vescovo’ immediately next to St Peter’s (Copia dell’elogio posto dentro la cassa di Francesco Gavard defonto in Roma (1787)), i.e. the church of SS Michele e Magno; the present engraving seems to erroneously identify the church as S. Michele Arcangelo ai Corridori di Borgo. There, he lay in state for three days, until the evening of 7 April, and hordes of people from all walks of life came to pay their respects; following his death, numerous engravings of his dead body circulated as reminders of his piety.
Prior to moving to Rome he was known for the miraculous pear tree in his garden, which bloomed for a full six weeks each year starting on the first day of Advent. Unlike other examples we have found, which show close-up views of Gavard’s face after his death or three-quarter profiles showing him alive, with tattered clothing covered in patches, the present engraving depicts Gavard stretched out on a bed, barefoot, wearing a head-covering and with his hands folded across his chest.
Not on OCLC or Library Hub.
