A group of women visiting a tomb

Description/Remarks: The drawing presents a classical
funerary setting with a monumental sarcophagus placed
under a canopy of trees, adorned with drapery and framed by
natural elements that create a theatrical atmosphere. Three
female figures are inceding beneath the trees, engaged in
what appears to be a moment of intense conversation or
lament. In the background, a hilly landscape with distant
architecture suggests an idealized or allegorical space.
Although the scene does not illustrate a specific episode from
Gerusalemme Liberata, the composition resonates strongly
with the tone and themes of Erminia’s lament. The motifs of
abandonment, sorrow, and fatal disillusionment in the
poem—culminating in her tears imagined as the source of the
River Jordan—find visual echoes in the mournful
atmosphere, the monumental tomb, and the
anthropomorphic presence of nature in the drawing.
The elegiac setting and classical allusions support a reading
of the image as a visual pendant to Erminia’s monologue: a
space of memory, feminine despair, and theatrical pathos.
While not a literal illustration, the image shares the same
emotional and symbolic register and could be understood as
an emblematic counterpart to the poetic text.
On the pedestal to the right is visible The announcement of
the death of Patroclus to Achilles inspired to one of the so
called Antichita’ Mattei.