Seeking to further develop his reconstruction of the Cappella Sansevero, the Italian nobleman Raimondo di Sangro commissioned the sculptor Antonio Corradini to produce a realistic, life-sized marble tomb effigy of Jesus covered by a shroud.

"[4] Abandoning Corradini's earlier model,[2] Sanmartino produced a work with the dead Jesus laid on a couch, covered by a veil which adheres perfectly to his form.

[2] Shaping further detail into the marble block, Sanmartino placed depictions of the instruments of the passion at Jesus's feet, including pliers, shackles, and the crown of thorns.

[4] Over the centuries, the masterly depiction of the veil has acquired a legend, in which the original commissioner of the sculpture, the famous scientist and alchemist Raimondo di Sangro, teaches the sculptor how to transform cloth into crystalline marble.

Over the years many visitors to the Cappella, amazed by the veiled sculpture, erroneously believed it to be the result of an alchemical "marblification" performed by di Sangro, a Grand Master of the local Masonic Lodge and an alchemist.