According to Peter Stanford, the term originates from the Italian ', which means scaffolding. However, the "Oxford English Dictionary" says the word is "f unknown derivation; even the original form is uncertain; French pointing to or , Italian to , Spanish to ." The most notable Italian catafalque was the one designed for Michelangelo by his fellow artists in 1564. An elaborate and highly decorated roofed surround for a catafalque, common for grand funerals of the Baroque era, may be called a '.