Crypt of San Martino ai Monti, Rome

Among the first of a number of artists to take a pictorial interest in Roman ritual, rather than in the traditional Christian iconography, was the young Proven�al Granet, who while studying in Rome began painting church interiors with officiating clergy. This new genre anticipated the medievalism of his Troubadour compatriots and found a ready market. His haunting Crypt of San Martino ai Monti, a view of the vaults which were once part of the ancient Baths of Trajan, includes a female corpse in its white shroud, while a hooded priest and his acolyte prepare for the committal.