Cœnotaphiorum (8) 1563

Hans Vredeman de Vries made this engraving of a coenotaph, an empty tomb, around 1600. The image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. The coenotaph itself is elaborate and ornate, suggesting the wealth and status of the person for whom it was intended. It is adorned with sphinxes, classical figures often associated with funerary monuments. Angels and architectural elements, like columns, show that the artist was familiar with the design principles codified during the Italian Renaissance. Vries was a Dutch architect and garden designer, he was a key figure in the Northern Renaissance. His designs reflected the influence of classical architecture and he was one of the first artists to popularize its forms. He often included classically inspired monuments in his garden designs. Examining Vries’s treatises and other period sources helps us understand the cultural significance of classical forms. Architectural design has always been a public art, invested with cultural and political meaning.