This print shows the funeral procession of Christina, former Queen of Sweden which took place in Rome on the 23rd April 1689. Queen Christina had abdicated from the throne of Sweden in 1654 and converted to Catholicism. On renouncing her throne she had left the country and travelled to Rome. She was regarded as a very significant convert to the Catholic faith and on her arrival in the city she was received in great splendour. Pope Alexander VII came personally to meet her. She adopted the baptismal name of Maria Christina Alexandra and spent the remaining years of her life based in Rome where she led an independent and unconventional life. She became a great patroness of the arts. She was the friend of Popes and Cardinals and on her death her connections afforded her a grand and solemn funeral despite her request for a simple burial. She is one of only three women to be given the honour of being buried in Saint Peter's Basilica.

This engraving, designed and engraved by the Flemish printmaker, Robert van Audenarde and published by Giovanni de Rossi in Rome, shows the funeral procession in seven tiers. The emphasis is on the ritual and figures of the participants and only three key buildings in Rome are illustrated. The procession of mourners begins at the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella at the bottom right of the print, where Christina's body had lain in state prior to the funeral, and snakes away from the spectator to the Basilica of St Peter in the top left hand corner. The procession passes Castel Sant’ Angelo in the top right hand corner. The Queen's carriage brings up the end of the procession and her body, lying on top of her coffin, appears in the second tier from the bottom. Various groups in the funeral cortège are labelled with engraved text above their heads such as members of Christina’s court who are immediately behind the coffin, Papal officials, clergy and monastic and penitential orders who appear at the head of the procession. The text describing the occasion is printed on a piece of drapery unfurled by two winged skeletons at the top of the print and is written in Latin to give it a more universal appeal. Groups of onlookers are shown at the side of the image giving a sense of the crowds who must have come to witness the funeral. Some are being held back by soldiers with pikes.

The spectacle of a royal figure being carried to the grave has always had great power. Printmakers and publishers responded to the demand for prints immortalizing such events and produced them rapidly to cash in on the topicality of the subject-matter. Engravings like this could communicate the scale and grandeur of the occasion and the citizens of Europe would have been eager to obtain an image of such a solemn event.