The sculptural group in these two studies, probably executed a few years apart, is based on Gianlorenzo Bernini’s Tomb of the Countess Matilda, begun in St Peter’s in 1633. By adding a group of women in supplication before the tomb, and a child drinking from a spring issuing from its base, Castiglione imbued the static and solemn character of Bernini’s monument with a sense of ancient mystery. Cats 9, 19