The present view represents one of the most picturesque scenes in
the Crypt. Here, surrounded by an arcade, in the very heart of the
Cathedral, immediately beneath the centre of the Dome, stands the tomb
of England's greatest naval hero.
The Sarcophagus itself has a strange history. It is usually said to
have been designed by Torregiano as a portion of the memorial of
Wolsey. "It lay for centuries neglected in Wolsey's Chapel at Windsor.
Just at the time of Nelson's death, George III. was preparing to
make that chapel a cemetery for his family. It was suggested as fit
to encase the coffin of Nelson. It is a fine work marred in its bold
simplicity by a tawdry coronet, but the master Italian hand is at once
recognised by the instructed eye." So Dean Milman writes.
Recent researches have shown that the Sarcophagus, which is of white
and black marble, is the work of Benedetto da Rovezzano, by whom it was
commenced in 1524 as part of a stately monument intended by Cardinal
Wolsey as a magnificent memorial of himself. It appears that Henry
VIII. took possession of the materials prepared for Wolsey's monument,
and that Benedetto was commissioned to transform it into a memorial for
the king. The sculptor spent upon it eleven years of labour, but the
costly work was never completed. The body of Nelson rests, not in the
Sarcophagus, but beneath it.
[Illustration: THE CRYPT: NELSON'S TOMB.]