Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2008)
JÚLIA TÁTRAI AND LÁSZLO LENGYEL: Archduke Albert († 1621) on the Catafalque: A Picture of Old-New Acquisition
THE PICTURE OF ARCHDUKE ALBERT ON THE CATAFALQUE AS A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT Written and pictorial sources devoted far more attention to the funeral procession held in the March following Albert's death on July 13, 1621 than to his catafalque. Clearly there was much more time available to prepare for his pompa funebris, and in any case this was the spectacular and more important event designed to mobilise far bigger crowds. The historiographer, Erycius Puteanus (1582/83-1651), and court architect and engraver, Jacob Francquart (1574-1646), prepared a joint, highly detailed and richly illustrated report on the ornate mourning procession and funeral. 2 ' The title page and the series of etchings depicting the almost seven hundred people who participated in the procession were made by Cornelis Galle (1576-1650) after drawings by Francquart. 28 Among the participants were prominent personalities of the Brussels court, members of the clergy, musicians, painters, and representatives of provinces, principalities, as w r ell as dukedoms and counties of the north and south Netherlands, all marching with flags. The etchings were made to document the event, and the names and titles of the majority of the participants can be deciphered from the inscriptions above the heads. Mbert was laid to rest at the foot of the altar in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the church of Saint Gudule in Brussels, and was joined there by Isabella fourteen years later. Their last will and testament stipulated that a mausoleum be built on the site, but this was never implemented due to lack of money. 29 The text by Puteanus gives only a brief description in a few lines of the archduke's death and lying in state: "At four o'clock in the afternoon of July, 13 1621 our Lord called our Archduke Mbert. Thus, orders were given that every church in the city toll their bells in mourning for one hour, three times a day. This continued for six weeks. The body was placed in the great chapel of the court, dressed in the attire of the Franciscans as Archduke Mbert had ordered before his death. He was dressed thus for all to see. He was laid out below a baldachin made of gold fabric for four days. After this the body was placed into a lead coffin and transported to the little chapel below the sacristy. There he rested until 11 March of the following year." 30 This brief description of Albert's four days lying in state accords with the depiction in the Budapest picture. The archduke, barefooted and dressed in the habit of the Franciscans, lies below a four-stepped baldachin with a flat canopy covered by patterned golden drapery. His
