Daniele Crespi (Busto Arsizio 1598-1630 Milan)

A study for the first fresco on the right in the Certosa di Garegnano in Milan (Ward Neilson, op. cit., no. 14, fig. 37C). Crespi probably began to paint the large cycle of frescoes in the Certosa at the end of 1627, and signed the work on 5 April 1629. Two further drawings are related to this fresco: a sketch for the full composition in the Ambrosiana, Milan, and a black chalk study for the figure of Raymond Diocrès in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan (Ward Neilson, op. cit., nos. D14-15, figs. 71 & 72a). The present drawing appears to be the final compositional study. Drawings for other scenes in the fresco cycle are illustrated in Ward Neilson, op. cit., nos. D13, D17, D27, D6, D35, D5, D25, D30, figs. 73-77.
The Certosa fresco cycle depicts the life of Saint Bruno. This scene illustrates the first formative event in Bruno's life: the death of Raymond Diocrès, his theological tutor at the Sorbonne, where he had been renowned for his supposed virtue. Diocrès's true nature was revealed during his funeral, when he is said to have risen from his bier three times, proclaiming, in front of Bruno and his other pupils, 'By the justice of God, I am condemned'. In the present drawing his words are represented on a scroll curling from his mouth, whereas in the fresco they are, less evocatively, inscribed on a tablet at the foot of the bier.