Scaliger Tombs

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View of the Scaliger Tombs. In the foreground the tomb of Cansignorio Mastino II and that of Mastino II behind. Arche scaligere (Verona).jpg
View of the Scaliger Tombs. In the foreground the tomb of Cansignorio Mastino II and that of Mastino II behind.
The original statue of Cangrande I, now replaced by a copy Statua equestre Cangrande della Scala (Verona).jpg
The original statue of Cangrande I, now replaced by a copy

The Scaliger Tombs (Italian: Arche scaligere) is a group of five Gothic funerary monuments in Verona, Italy, celebrating the Scaliger family, who ruled in Verona from the 13th to the late 14th century.

Contents

The tombs are located in a court outside the church of Santa Maria Antica, separated from the street by a wall with iron grilles. Built in Gothic style, they are a series of tombs, mostly freestanding open tabernacle-like structures rising high above the ground, with a sarcophagus surmounted by an elaborate baldachin, topped by a statue of the deceased, mounted and wearing armour. According to the French historian Georges Duby, they are one of the most outstanding examples of Gothic art.

Description

The tombs are placed within an enclosure of wrought iron grilles decorated with a stair motif, referring to the name of the Della Scala family, meaning "of the stairs" in Italian. Although these tombs are located in a crowded area in the city, they have stood for five hundred years and counting. [1] The stone pillars of the enclosure have statues of saints. The tombs are those of the following notable members of the Scaliger dynasty:

The tomb of Cansignorio della Scala has been copied in the Brunswick Monument (1879) in Geneva, Switzerland.

45°26.61862′N10°59.93565′E / 45.44364367°N 10.99892750°E / 45.44364367; 10.99892750

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References

  1. Knapton, Law, Smith, Michael, John, Alison (2014). Venice and the Veneto During the Renaissance. Firenze University Press, Routledge, Cambridge University Press. p. 539. ISBN   9788892733794.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)