The quintessential Christian tomb: saints, professors, and Riccio's tomb design

The quintessential Christian tomb: saints, professors,and Riccio’s tomb design

Rebekah Carson

The Della Torre tomb monument (Fig. 1) in San Fermo Maggiore is a mas-terpiece of unparalleled design that challenged the modes of contemporaryfunerary art. Although addressed by some imminent scholars, the monument,created by Andrea Riccio for the medical professors Girolamo andMarcantonio Della Torre, has long merited further study. One of the mostnoted departures is the monument’s exclusively all’antica visual languageapplied by Riccio with an extraordinary single-mindedness. The lack of Chris-tian iconography, however, was not the only departure from contemporaryfunerary art made by the artist. Amongst the other remarkable features of thistomb is its construction as a free-standing monument with a raised tomb-chestand its use of an expanded narrative.

While there was some precedent for decorating a tomb solely all’antica, suchtombs were, for the most part, smaller in scale and usually surrounded byChristian imagery. Most tombs held at least a representation of the Virgin andChild or an image of the resurrected Christ. Normally placed on the upperlevels of tomb monuments, these representations were understood as a refer-ence to the final resurrection of the dead. Such Christian images are con-spicuous by their absence on the Della Torre tomb.

Indeed, despite the many changes that occurred in funerary art in thisperiod, it remained a conservative field with strict expectations of decorum.Funerary monuments received much public discussion and scrutiny and wereoften singled out for criticism if they appeared to be excessively self-aggrandizing or if they suggested a greater concern for earthly glory than foreternal salvation.1 Thus, certain elements were expected to be included oncontemporary tombs and, most importantly, their programmes were expectedto be concerned with the Christian afterlife. While linked to the afterlife, theDella Torre tomb’s references are not explicitly Christian. However, as I willargue, although these references to the afterlife are presented in a pagan

In addition to the anonymous reviewers of this article, I would like to thank Alexander Nagel, Sarah BlakeMcHam, Philip Sohm and Michael Koortbojian for their comments on earlier versions of this paper.

1 Robert Munman, Sienese Renaissance Tomb Monuments (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1993),8–9; Jonathan K. Nelson and Richard J. Zeckhauser, The Patron’s Payoff: Conspicuous Commissions in ItalianRenaissance Art (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), 56, 91–92.

Renaissance Studies Vol. •• No. •• DOI: 10.1111/rest.12009

© 2013 The AuthorRenaissance Studies © 2013 The Society for Renaissance Studies, John Wiley & Sons Ltd

language, a learned viewer would have perceived their Christian significance.Furthermore, I will show that if one turns from programme to structure, adifferent, distinctly Christian aspect emerges. Riccio’s composition of theDella Torre tomb as a free-standing monument with a raised tomb-chest hasimportant implications for understanding the tomb’s narrative. An insuffi-ciently appreciated aspect of this monument is that the structure draws on thetypology of the tombs of saints. I will show that the very design of Riccio’smonument would have informed the viewer of the importance of the narrativeprogramme, signalling its didactic purpose in presenting a model of a virtuouslife. Thus, while the tomb’s narrative relied on a purely pagan visual language,the very structure of this monument drew on a language that was overtlyChristian. On the following pages, after a brief introduction of the Della Torretomb, I will discuss the typology of the tombs of saints originating with thetomb of Saint Dominic and its essential features. Then, I will proceed to arguethat the Della Torre tomb shares these essential features and that Ricciopurposely employed them since he was familiar with their form and function.

Fig. 1 Andrea Riccio, the Della Torre Tomb Monument, c. 1516–1521, marble and bronze, Verona, San FermoMaggiore (© Alinari/Art Resource, NY)

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Finally, I will proceed to discuss the didactic nature of the Della Torre tomband the reasons for the use of the typology of the tombs of saints: I will arguethat, given the tomb’s narrative programme, it was motivated by the similarityof purpose in presenting a model of a virtuous life.

THE COMMISSION OF THE DELLA TORRE TOMB

Following the death of the physician and professor Girolamo Della Torre(1506) and that of his son, a professor of anatomy, Marcantonio (1511), thesurviving sons of Girolamo – Giulio, Giovanni Battista, and Raimondo –commissioned the funerary monument from Riccio. While there are norecords dating either the commissioning or the construction of the monu-ment, the general consensus is that Riccio commenced work on the monu-ment after 1516, following his completion of the Paschal candelabrum for thechurch of Sant’Antonio in Padua, and had completed it by 1521.2

While the absence of archival documents means that the exact role playedby the patrons in planning the programme of the monument is unknown, itscomplex programme suggests that the design emerged from a close intellec-tual exchange between Riccio and his humanist patrons.3 The Della Torrebrothers cultivated friendships with artists, and the interaction between theartists and humanists in their circle was closely tied to antiquarian interests.4

As the paterfamilias, Giulio must have played an instrumental role in theplanning of the monument. A study of Giulio’s patronage and his own artillustrates his taste for antiquarianism and for works that were both novel andinnovative.5 It is likely that the Della Torre brothers would have been activelyinvolved in designing the tomb; moreover, it would be surprising if the plansfor this monument were not a recurring subject of discussion amongst theirclosest humanist friends.6 Thus, this tomb, like most of Riccio’s work, wouldhave been created with a learned audience in mind.

2 Leo Planiscig, Andrea Riccio (Vienna: Anton Schroll & Co., 1927), 327; John Pope-Hennessy, ItalianRenaissance Sculpture, Vol. 2 (London: Phaidon Press, 1996), 416; Anthony Radcliffe, ‘The Illness of theProfessor/ The Soul of the Professor in the Fortunate Woods’, in Jane Martineau and Charles Hope (eds.), TheGenius of Venice: 1500–1600 (London: Royal Academy, 1984), 374. The family archives provide little informationabout the monument. A document from 27 July 1515 refers to plans to build a worthy monument forMarcantonio. Archivio di Stato di Verona, Della Torre Archivio privati, Busta II, No. 54. Lanfranco Franzoni,‘Autoritratto Bronzeo di Giulio Della Torre presso La Fondazione Minischalchi Erizzo’, Atti e memorie dellaAccademia di Agricoltura, Scienze e Lettere di Verona Serie VI, Vol. XXXIV (1982–83), 324.

3 On Riccio’s close interaction with humanists see Davide Banzato, ‘Riccio’s Humanist Circle and the PaschalCandelabrum’, in Denise Allen and Peta Motture (eds.), Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze, New York,Frick Museum (London: Philip Wilson Pub., 2008), 43–7; Denise Allen, ‘Riccio’s Bronze Narratives: Contextand Development’, in Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze, 15–40.

4 See Rebekah A. Carson, ‘Chapter II: Artists and Humanists in Padua and Verona’, in ‘Andrea Riccio’s DellaTorre Tomb Monument: Humanism and Antiquarianism in Padua and Verona’ (PhD dissertation, Universityof Toronto, 2010) 45–76.

5 An amateur medallist and bronze sculptor, Giulio is credited with the design of his villa in Fumane.6 This is a circle of humanists that included Girolamo Fracastoro, Pierio Valeriano, Niccolò Leonico Tomeo,

Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Andrea Navagero, and Pietro Bembo.

The quintessential Christian tomb 3

A large, free-standing marble and bronze monument would have requireda substantial investment on the part of the patrons. While professors wereamongst the groups granted special exemptions from sumptuary restrictionson funerals and tombs, this monument is more elaborate and expensive thanthe tombs of their peers.7 The Della Torre were a prominent and nobleVeronese family; thus, the tomb would have asserted their social standing inVerona and within this church.8 While the status of the family is evidently ondisplay, the monument clearly celebrates the profession of the deceased and,as will become evident, reflects the humanist ideals of education as means ofinstilling virtue. The presence of bronze on the Della Torre monument andthe value of this material would have been quickly noted by the Renaissanceviewer. In the later Quattrocento and early Cinquecento, the increasing use ofbronze in sacred art, particularly within the Veneto, may have influenced theviewer’s response to the medium and encouraged them to appreciate thismaterial as one appropriate for presenting noble and venerable themes. Thus,the expense of the materials used may have signalled to the viewer the impor-tance of the tomb’s programme.9

The Della Torre family chapel is located in the left transept of San FermoMaggiore (Fig. 2), and the tomb was placed in the centre of a small, undeco-rated chamber accessible only through the family chapel. Lit by two smallwindows, this chamber is not visible from the nave.10 The marble monument,placed on a stepped platform, consists of a lower altar-like structure with atomb-chest raised above it.11 In the lower section is a table adorned with aclassical frieze. This table is supported by a chest in the centre and byshort columns at the corners. The chest is carved with their family crest and

7 See Munman, Sienese Renaissance Tomb Monuments, 11; Andrew Butterfield, ‘Social Structure and theTypology of Funerary Monuments in Early Renaissance Florence’, RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 26 (Autumn,1994), 47 and 60.

8 Girolamo enjoyed a standard of living above that of the average professor. See Gian Maria Varanini andRenato Ponzin, ‘I Della Torre di Verona nel Trecento e Quattrocento. Aspetti socio-economici, religiosi,culturali di un’affermazione familiare’, in Arturo Sandrini (ed.), La Villa Della Torre a Fumani (Verona: BancaAgricola popolare di Cerea, 1993), 35–47.

9 The changing use of bronze, and consequently, its meaning, on Renaissance funerary monuments is anissue of significant interest that remains to be independently addressed. While the medium itself was closelyassociated with antiquity, its use on funerary monuments before the 1490s illustrates that it was also intimatelylinked with authority. However, beginning in 1492, artists started to use bronze on the tombs of some Paduanprofessors – these changes signal an interesting shift in the language of this medium.

10 This chamber was not part of the original structure of the church. Alessandro Da Lisca argued that theexterior wall of the Della Torre chamber was built in the early sixteenth century; if correct, this makes theconstruction of the chamber contemporaneous with the commissioning of the tomb. Alessandro Da Lisca, Studie ricerche originali sulla chiesa di S. Fermo Maggiore di Verona con le notizie dei restauri recentemente compiti (Verona:Società Cooperativa Tipografica, 1909), 90–1. See also Caterina Gemma Brenzoni, ‘Il mausoleo della famigliadella Torre’, in Paolo Golinelli and C. Brenzoni (eds.), I Santi Fermo e Rustico. Un culto e una chiesa in Verona. Peril XVII centenario del loro martirio (304–2004) (Verona: Parrocchia di San Fermo Maggiore in Verona, 2004), 281.

11 Although Riccio designed the monument, there is no evidence that he ever worked in marble. The marblemay have been carved by Vincenzo Grandi. Andrea Bacchi and Luciana Giacomelli, ‘Rinascimento di terra e difuoco’, in A. Bacchi and L. Giacomelli (eds.), Rinascimento e passione per l’antico: Andrea Riccio e il suo tempo (Trent:Provincia autonoma di Trento, 2008), 50–52; L. Giacomelli and Andrea Tomezzoli, ‘La lezione di medicina’, inRinascimento e passione per l’antico, 449–50.

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inscriptions commemorating Girolamo and Marcantonio. The frieze is deco-rated with birds, nymphs, and figures emerging from scrolling foliage; medal-lions and half medallions of red porphyry and verde antico or green serpentineare placed in the centre and corners of the frieze. Although uniquely arranged,all of the motifs in the tomb’s ornamental decoration were popular in contem-porary Veneto sculpture. Within a funerary context, the nymphs, birds, andhybrid figures served as symbols of the soul’s ascension after death and itssuccessful journey into the afterlife.12

12 Jan Bialostocki, ‘The Sea-Thiasos in Renaissance Sepulchral Art’, in Studies in French and Italian Art of theRenaissance and Baroque: Essays in Honour of Sir Anthony Blunt (London, 1967), 69–74.

1

2

Fig. 2 Plan of San Fermo Maggiore, Verona, showing the locations of (1) the Della Torre family chapel, and(2) the free-standing all’antica tomb monument (adapted from Carla Perez Pompei, La chiesa di S. Fermo)


The tomb-chest is raised by four bronze sphinxes and a marble supportdecorated with a winged laurel wreath. Surrounding the raised tomb-chestwere Riccio’s eight bronze narrative panels. Now in the Louvre, these panelswere removed by Napoleon’s forces in 1796.13 The narrative depicts the lifeand death of a virtuous professor, the journey of his soul into the afterlife, andthe triumph of humanist virtue over death. Since the professor in the narra-tive does not resemble the portraits of Marcantonio and Girolamo made byRiccio and Giulio Della Torre, he should be understood as an allegoricalfigure.

In the centre of the monument’s lid is a tabernacle that encloses Riccio’sbronze death masks of the father and son. Now lost, six bronze statuettes,which were most likely removed during the Napoleonic occupation of Verona,

13 The tomb holds nineteenth-century copies of the panels. Giuseppe Franco Viviani, ‘Paolo Brenzoni: unavita per Caterina Bon, per le “povera gente” a per l’arte’, Atti e memorie dell’Accademia di Agricoltura, Scienze e Letteredi Verona Serie VI, Vol. XXIII, CXLVIII dell’intera collezione (1971–1972), 229–65; and Biblioteca CivicaVerona, Carteggio Angelo Messedaglia.

Fig. 3 Andrea Riccio, The Funeral of the Professor, c. 1516–1521, bronze, 37 x 49 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre(© Erich Lessing/ Art Resource, NY)

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once decorated the top of the monument.14 The fifth panel of the narrative,the scene of the professor’s funeral, contains a representation of a tomb whichbears a striking resemblance to the tomb designed for the Della Torre andmay present its original appearance (Fig. 3). Here, on either side of thetabernacle, putti hold up flaming oil lamps. More putti, now clasping masks,are positioned on the corners of the lid.

The genesis of Riccio’s design remains an issue of importance. The designof the tomb as a free-standing monument was somewhat unusual in theVeneto, where wall monuments were more commonly used. In his mono-graph on Riccio’s work, Leo Planiscig observed that, while Riccio made thedesign of the Della Torre monument entirely his own, its form – a ceremo-nial table with a raised tomb-chest – was not new. Contending that Riccio’sdesign illustrated the direct influence of the Lombard school, Planiscig spe-cifically suggested Giovanni Antonio Amadeo’s work in Milan or Bergamo asthe likely influence.15 However, it is Amadeo’s design for the arca of SanLanfranco in Pavia (Fig. 4), c. 1498–1508, which most closely corresponds tothe design of the Della Torre monument. Still, since the arca of SanLanfranco draws on a long tradition of Trecento art, it is difficult to sustainthat Riccio’s design was directly influenced by Amadeo’s work. They may be,as it were, parallel derivations. Planiscig, also recognizing that the designof the Della Torre monument was ultimately derived from a Trecentosource, pointed to Giovanni di Balduccio’s tomb for St Peter the Martyr(Fig. 5) in Sant’Eustorgio, Milan.16 An insufficiently understood implicationof Planiscig’s suggestions is that it links Riccio’s design to one of the mostcommon types of tombs created for saints – a type that originated not inLombardy but in Bologna.

THE ARCA OF ST DOMINIC AND THE TOMBS OF SAINTS

Tomb monuments for professors were not traditionally elaborate. Following along-standing convention, they most frequently consisted of a relief of theprofessor teaching, as is illustrated by numerous examples in Bologna, Padua,and Pavia. A typical, contemporary example of this is found in the relief of thelawyer Francesco Corti. (Fig. 6).17 Free-standing monuments were usuallymade to commemorate figures of particular civic importance, most commonly

14 Leopoldo Cicognara stated that the removal of the figures was recent. Leopoldo Cicognara, Storia dellascultura dal suo Risorgimento in Italia sino al secolo XIX . . . , Vol. II (Venice, 1816), 138.

15 Planiscig, Andrea Riccio, 376. While Planiscig did not cite specific works by Amadeo, he was most likelyreferring to the tomb of Bartolomeo Colleoni in the Colleoni chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo andthe tomb for Giovanni Borromeo, originally located in the church of San Francesco Grande, in Milan.

16 Planiscig, Andrea Riccio, 376.17 In Bologna, there were also free-standing monuments for professors; however, these were exterior monu-

ments that usually held a stronger civic function than those placed inside churches. Originally created for theGlossators, free-standing exterior tomb monuments for lawyers and professors were first erected in 1268. SeeRenzo Grandi, I Monumenti dei dottori e la scultura a Bologna (1267–1348) (Bologna, Comune di Bologna, 1982).


rulers.18 These types of tombs are not the source of inspiration for Riccio’sdesign of the Della Torre monument. The tombs of saints provide a morerelevant tradition. The Della Torre monument shares important features withone of the most common types of the tombs of saints – it is a free-standingmonument with a raised tomb-chest. Moreover, it shares another importantfeature: the tombs of saints frequently include a narrative of the saint’s life,which was usually placed on the tomb-chest itself.

The arca of St Dominic in Bologna (Fig. 7), designed by Nicola Pisano c.1264 and erected in 1267, was one of the most influential tombs created for asaint; it not only transformed the tombs of saints in Italy but, being one of thefirst monumental tombs since antiquity, greatly influenced the wider field of

18 Influenced by French examples, this type of monument usually presented a gisant of the deceased lying ona funeral bier. Although frequently covered with an architectural structure, the tomb itself was usually quite low,thus granting the spectator occasion to view the effigy of the deceased. For example, Cristoforo Solario’s tombsof Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d’Este, in the Certosa, Pavia, c. 1497.

Fig. 4 Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, Arca of San Lanfranco, c. 1498–1508, marble, Pavia, San Lanfranco (©Alinari Archives-Alinari Archive, Florence)

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funerary art.19 Originally raised on caryatids, which were removed in the latefifteenth century, the tomb-chest of St Dominic was carved with six narrativescenes from the saint’s life, and the inclusion of this biographical narrative wasone of the most important additions to this tomb.20 While it was common todepict biblical scenes or related symbolic themes on sarcophagi, the inclusionof scenes from the life of a saint was novel and extremely influential onsubsequent tombs of saints.21 This particular mid-Duecento monument was arelevant source of inspiration for artists in the late Quattrocento and earlyCinquecento; the monument underwent various alterations in this period,including contributions by both Michelangelo and Niccolò da Bari, betterknown as Niccolò dell’Arca.

19 Anita Fiderer Moskowitz, Nicola Pisano’s Arca di San Domenico and Its Legacy (Pennsylvania: PennsylvaniaState University Press, 1994), 2.

20 For a discussion of the scholarship on the tomb’s original design see Massimo Ferratti, in Massimo Medica(ed.), Duecento: Forme e colori del Medioevo a Bologna (Venice: Marsilio, 2000), 217–26.

21 Moskowitz, Nicola Pisano, 2.

Fig. 5 Giovanni di Balduccio, Arca of St Peter the Martyr, 1339, marble, Milan, Sant’Eustorgio (© MauroRanzani Archive-Alinari Archive, Florence)


The design of the arca of St Dominic was influenced by Pisano’s earlierhexagonal pulpit made in 1260 for the Baptistery of Pisa. The inclusion of anextended narrative on the pulpit set an important precedent, offering insightinto the function of the narrative on the arca of saints. The influence ofclassical sarcophagi on Pisano’s pulpit has been well noted. In particular,biographical sarcophagi inspired his inclusion of scenes from the life ofChrist. The visual link created between Pisano’s pulpit and ancient funeraryart would have served to cultivate the idea that the pulpit was a representationof Christ’s tomb.22 This connection between pulpit and tomb would have beenfurther strengthened when four years later Pisano used a similar design for thearca of St Dominic and then, in the following year, when he borrowed ele-ments from the arca of St Dominic for his pulpit in the Siena Cathedral. Thenarrative reliefs on pulpits most frequently focused upon the life of Christ;

22 Anita Fiderer Moskowitz, Nicola and Giovanni Pisano: The Pulpits: Pious Devotion, Pious Diversion (London:Harvey Miller Publishers, 2005), 58; Eloise M. Angiola, ‘Nicola Pisano, Federigo Visconti, and the Classical stylein Pisa’, Art Bulletin 59: 1 (1977), 9.

Fig. 6 Tomb of Francesco Corti, 1495, marble, Pavia, University of Pavia (© Scala/ Art Resource, NY)

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drawing upon this model, the narrative on the tombs of saints linked saints toChrist and presented their life as being similar to that of Christ.23

The arca of St Dominic inspired many subsequent tombs for saints. A fewnoteworthy examples include Giovanni di Balduccio’s tomb for St Peter theMartyr in Sant’Eustorgio, Milan, completed in 1339; Giovanni AntonioAmadeo’s arca for St Lanfranco, in San Lanfranco, outside of Pavia; and thearca of St Augustine (Fig. 8) in San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, in Pavia.24 Thestandard element of these tombs is the raised tomb-chest on which a narrativeof the saint’s life was presented. Most frequently, the narrative was divided intoeight scenes: three on each of the long sides and one on each of the short sidesof the monument. In addition, the tomb-chest is usually raised slightly abovethe viewer’s eye level, making the narrative visible and providing access to thetomb-chest.

23 Sarah Blake McHam, The Chapel of St Anthony at the Santo and Development of Venetian Renaissance Sculpture(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 86; Moskowitz, Nicola Pisano, 15.

24 This monument, more elaborate and complex than other examples of the tombs of saints, varies fromthese examples through its inclusion of the effigy of the saint.

Fig. 7 Nicola Pisano, Arca of St. Dominic, 1267, marble, Bologna, San Domenico (© Scala/ Art Resource, NY)


The type became so popular that some earlier tombs of saints were alteredand adapted to fit the typology established by the arca of St Dominic. Circa1395, the third-century sarcophagus in San Giovanni in Valle, Verona, whichserved as the tomb of St Simon and St Jude, was raised and placed on columns.Also in Verona, in the church of SS. Teuteria and Tosca, the mid-twelfth-century tomb of St Teuteria and St Tosca was decorated and raised oncolumns in 1427.25 Tombs like Amadeo’s arca for San Lanfranco demonstratethat the design of the arca of St Dominic was popular into the late Quattro-cento and the early Cinquecento, despite a decline in its popularity in the late

25 Barnaby Robert Nygren, ‘The Monumental Saint’s Tomb in Italy: 1260–1520’ (PhD dissertation, HarvardUniversity, 1999), 439–40.

Fig. 8 Giovanni Balduccio and shop, Arca of St Augustine, marble, begun after 1350, Pavia, San Pietro in Cield’Oro (© Scala/ Art Resource, NY)

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1300s and early 1400s.26 Indeed, the 1479 contract for the tomb of the PersianMartyrs, commissioned for the abbey of San Lorenzo in Cremona, illustratesthe continued importance of the earlier tombs of saints: the patronsdemanded that this arca be as good as those made for St Dominic, St Peter theMartyr, and St Augustine.27 In 1505 when Isabella d’Este commissioned atomb for Beata Ossana Andreasi from Gian Cristoforo Romano, the chosenstyle was again a raised tomb-chest arca. However, to save money, this nolonger extant monument did not include a narrative.28

Completed in 1339, Balduccio’s design for the tomb of St Peter the Martyrmade influential changes to the model established with the arca of StDominic. On this arca, Balduccio substituted a sloped lid for the flat one thatmost likely originally covered the arca of St Dominic. In addition, smallstatuettes were added to the top of the arca of St Peter the Martyr, and thisbecame a norm for subsequent tombs of saints.29 When the Veronese arca ofSS. Simon and Jude was given a new cover in 1395, the new lid includedeffigies of the saints and four statuettes of saints and Virtues. These smallstatuettes were often placed on the corners of the tomb. Anita Moskowitz hasargued that these figures, placed diagonally on the upper corners, were meantto encourage the faithful to walk around the monument.30 Figural supportsand ornamental features on pulpit design were also used to encourage theviewer to move around the pulpit. The figures placed on top of the tombs ofsaints are akin to the figures once placed on top of the Della Torre monumentand they likely served a similar purpose. Overall, it is clear that the character-istics of this type of saint’s tomb are strikingly similar to Riccio’s design for theDella Torre monument.

Raising the tomb-chests of saints and placing these tombs prominentlywithin the church ensured that they were both visible and accessible to pil-grims. Their design encouraged a close and often physical interactionbetween the viewer and the monument. This type of interaction is well illus-trated in the National Gallery in Washington’s painting of The Crippled and SickCured at the Tomb of St Nicholas by Gentile da Fabriano (1425), where thefaithful are shown walking below the saint’s tomb and placing their hands onthe underside of the tomb. The raised tomb was particularly effective inproviding the faithful greater access to the thaumaturgical effects of the saint’srelics because the faithful could more easily touch the tomb. However, theraised tomb in conjunction with the narrative was an effective means of

26 Ulrich Pfisterer, ‘Civic Promoters of Celestial Protectors: The Arca of San Donato at Arezzo and the Crisisof the Saint’s Tomb around 1400’, in S. Lamia and E. Valdez del Alamo (eds.), Decorations for the Holy Dead. VisualEmbellishments on Tombs and Shrines of Saints (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002), 220.

27 Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 310.28 Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 355.29 McHam, The Chapel of St. Anthony, 87.30 Moskowitz, Nicola Pisano, 2.


educating the pilgrims about the life of this particular saint and promoting thesaint’s cult.

THE TOMBS OF SAINTS AND RICCIO

Having worked on various commissions in the church of St Anthony of Padua,the city’s most important pilgrimage site, Riccio would have had the occasionto observe carefully how the faithful interacted with the tombs of saints.Between 1513 and 1516, the period in which Riccio probably received theDella Torre tomb commission, he worked on two commissions for the mon-astery and church of Santa Giustina in Padua.31 One of the tombs he wouldhave become very familiar with in this period was the arca of St Luke (Fig. 9).Sculpted by an anonymous Tuscan (?) sculptor c. 1316, the tomb was influ-enced by the raised, polychrome tomb created for St Anthony of Padua in the

31 In 1516 he was commissioned to make a model for the rebuilding of the church and in 1513 he wasworking on the fountain in the atrium of the monastery’s refectory. Alexander Nagel, ‘Moses/ Zeus Ammon’in Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze, 134–43; The Controversy of Renaissance Art (Chicago, ChicagoUniversity Press, 2011), 153–66.

Fig. 9 Anonymous Tuscan (?) sculptor, Arca of St Luke, c. 1316, marble, alabaster, and granite, Padua, SantaGiustina (© Alinari /Art Resource, NY)

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Santo.32 Although the arca of St Luke, like the original tomb-chest of StAnthony of Padua, lacks a narrative, the similarities between the Della Torremonument and the arca of St Luke are nevertheless striking.33 Both are raisedby five supports: the arca of St Luke is raised on four columns with a fifthsupport, carved with three angels, in the centre. The reliefs on both tomb-chests are divided into eight panels. Although the reliefs on many tombs ofsaints were separated by figural sculpture, this is not the case with the arca ofSt Luke. Furthermore, while elaborate decorative details were commonly usedon the tomb-chests of saints, these elements are missing on both the DellaTorre monument and the arca of St Luke. Both the arca and the tomb havea simple architrave, and the reliefs are framed with simple straight borders.Additionally, in the design of these tombs both artists used contrastingmaterials.34

As the raised saint’s tomb was used from the mid-Duecento to theCinquecento, one must ask how Riccio might have dated this type of monu-ment. This is particularly relevant since Riccio took such care in his applica-tion of an almost purely all’antica style to the decorative elements of the DellaTorre monument. While in the early sixteenth century tombs for saints werebeing made in the style of the arca of St Dominic, they were still clearly linkedto this older model. Pisano’s design for the arca of St Dominic was alwaysunderstood to have drawn on classical models. It is possible that by the laterQuattrocento the continued use of this style of monument, in particular itsuse on the tombs of early Christian saints, confused the historical origins ofthe design. The question is whether or not Riccio would have linked thisdesign to its Duecento origins or if, in studying an arca like the one created forSt Luke, he might have deemed it to have been derived from an even earliermodel. In the case of Riccio, the latter case appears to be likely. Indeed, thefact that he includes a nearly identical version of the tomb in his relief of theprofessor’s funeral suggests that he considered it an appropriate model forthe classical setting of his narrative. Conversely, including his design in thenarrative itself would suggest that his very design was worthy of the ancients.35

32 Giulio Bresciani Alvarez, ‘La Basilica di Santa Giustina nelle sue fasi storico-costruttive’ in La Basilica diSanta Giustina. Arte e Storia (Castelfranco, Veneto: Grifone, 1970), 98–110; Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb,61, 372. On the tomb of St Anthony see McHam, The Chapel of St. Anthony, 84–5, and Michele Tomasi, ‘Ilmodello antoniano: tombe di santi su colonne o su cariatidi in area veneta nel Trecento’, Il Santo 48 (2008),123–44.

33 The reliefs on the arca include: St Luke, the ox of St Luke, angels holding torches and censers.34 The arca of St Anthony established the popularity of polychrome saints’ tombs in the Veneto. Tomasi, ‘Il

modello antoniano’, 141–2.35 Riccio’s art historical awareness is apparent in his own work and in the writings of a contemporary author.

We know from the Notizia d’opere di disegno, that Riccio was an informed and reliable source on 14th-centurypainting in Padua. Riccio provided Michiel with information on Altichiero, Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Stefano daFerrara, and Ottaviano Bresciano. Marcantonio Michiel, Notizia d’opere del disegno, 28, 29, and 34. While Riccio’sown work demonstrates his appreciation of contemporary and classical art, and a familiarity with classical texts,his knowledge of local 14th-century painting is significant as it illustrates his interest in the history of Paduan art.See Denise Allen, ‘The Strigil Bearer’, in Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze, 258–63; ClaudiaKryza-Gersch, ‘Boy with a Goose’, in Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze, 294–301; Anthony Radcliffe, ‘The


In the late Quattrocento and early Cinquecento, artists began to makesome alterations to the earlier designs of the tombs of saints, and one of theprincipal changes was the increasingly rare use of figural supports forthe tomb-chests. It appears that this was due to the desire to increase theheight of contemporary arcas of saints – a change particularly evident in thearca of San Lanfranco, where the tomb-chest was raised much higher thaneye level.36 Riccio’s use of bronze sphinxes as figural supports and his place-ment of the tomb-chest at the viewer’s eye level suggest a deliberate archa-ism, an effort to return the tomb type to the older model of the arca ofsaints.

Altars were commonly placed in front of the tombs of saints, as is believedto have been the case with the arca of St Luke. Occasionally, as in the case ofthe arca of St Donato in the Duomo in Arezzo, the tomb and altar weremerged into one structure, with the altar attached to the front of the monu-ment. When the tomb and altar were placed together, the images carved onthe tomb-chest served as an altarpiece.37 The frequent placement of altars infront of the tombs of saints may help to explain how Riccio arrived at hisdesign for the lower portion of the Della Torre monument. Since the lowersection of many tombs of saints would have been blocked from view by thealtar, one can imagine how Riccio may have come to the idea of adding thislower, altar-like structure to a monument primarily consisting of the raisedtomb-chest. While the lower section of the Della Torre monument resemblesan altar, it could not have served this function. (The actual altar was locatedin the family chapel, not in this small chamber.)

The saints’ tombs influenced by the arca of St Dominic shared threeimportant features: the first is an association between the tomb and an altar;the second is the presence of narrative reliefs on the tomb-chest; and thethird is that they were frequently designed as free-standing monuments.38

Overall, it is clear that Riccio’s design for the Della Torre monument sharedmany characteristics with tombs created for saints. It is a free-standingmonument with a raised tomb-chest supported at the corners and in thecentre; the tomb-chest has an eight-panel narrative and its lid was decoratedwith small statuettes. Finally, it is evident that the placement of the narrativepanels and the division of the inscription on the Della Torre tomb requiresthe viewer to encircle the monument in order to read it, prompting closeand direct interaction between the viewer and the tomb just as in the caseof the tombs of saints.

Shouting Horseman’, in The Genius of Venice: 1500–1600, 376; and Peta Motture, ‘The Shouting Horseman’, inAndrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze, 216–21. On the intellectual life of Riccio see Carson, Andrea Riccio’sDella Torre Tomb Monument.

36 Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 141.37 Pfisterer, ‘Civic Promoters’, 219–22; Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 62; McHam, The Chapel of St.

Anthony, 88.38 Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 227.

16 Rebekah Carson

Nevertheless, there are some important differences between the placementof the Della Torre monument and the tombs of saints that raise questions thatmust be addressed. In order to meet the needs of the faithful, the tombs ofsaints were usually both highly visible and highly accessible. As mentioned, theDella Torre monument was placed in a small chamber that was not visiblefrom the nave. The different placement of the Della Torre monument, as wellas the absence of explicitly Christian iconography for that matter, could beexplained by the respect for decorum. As most tombs of saints were centrallylocated and very accessible, the placement of the tomb in the side chamberwould have deterred viewers from confusing this tomb with that of a saint’stomb. It should be pointed out that the tombs of saints and in particular thetomb of St Dominic also influenced tombs of the laity, at times creatingconfusion. This is evident in the accounts of the Paduan tomb in the Oratoryof San Giorgio at the Santo, created for the family of the condottiereRaimondino de Lupi, who died in 1379. Dismantled in the sixteenth century,de Lupi’s free-standing sarcophagus was originally raised on marble columnstopped with a canopy. The monument was surrounded by statues portrayingmembers of the de Lupi family. This monument was kissed and venerated byvisitors who mistook it for the tomb of a saint.39 This story further illustratesthat the tombs of St Dominic and St Anthony established a strong linkbetween the raised tomb and the idea of sanctity.40 The placement of the DellaTorre monument could have been influenced by the desire to avoid causingsuch confusion.

In light of this, it is unlikely that in borrowing this model Riccio and theDella Torre were trying to sanctify the deceased; instead, the placement of themonument suggests that the primary audience would not have been thepilgrims but rather the learned viewer. While the family chapel, dedicated toSt Francis, would have been accessible to the wider community at San Fermo,the tomb’s principle audience would have been the Della Torre family, theirhumanist friends, the clergy, and the other leading families in Verona, par-ticularly those within San Fermo.41 Ultimately, considering the complete

39 Moskowitz, Nicola Pisano, 63. M. Edwards, ‘The Tomb of Raimondino de Lupi and its Setting’, Rutgers ArtReview 2 (January, 1982), 37–49. The tomb for Vitaliano and Giovanni Borromeo is another example of theblurred boundary between the tombs of saints and the laity. Now in the Palazzo Borromeo in Isola Bella, itoriginally stood in San Francesco Grande in Milan. Influenced by the arca of St Peter the Martyr and the arcaof St Augustine, the Borromeo monument might easily be mistaken for a saint’s tomb. The tomb may have beenoriginally intended as a reliquary, although – as Sarah Blake McHam contends – this account may have arisenas a response to the unorthodox design of the monument. According to tradition, the Borromeo familycommissioned a reliquary monument in honour of St Giustina of Padua, whom they counted amongst theirancestors. However, as the church of St Giustina was unwilling to share the saint’s relics, the family decided toreuse the monument. Ellen Louise Longsworth, ‘The Renaissance Tomb in Milan’ (PhD dissertation, BostonUniversity, 1987), 118–31; McHam, The Chapel of St. Anthony, 88.

40 Tomasi, ‘Il modello antoniano’, 129; Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 50.41 The family’s eminence in San Fermo Maggiore is evident in their patronage rights to a prominently

situated chapel. (Most family chapels here were located in the nave and were not enclosed architecturally.) TheDella Torre chapel was one of the oldest and largest family chapels in the church; moreover, they were one ofvery few families permitted to add extensions to the church. (The family acquired patronage rights to this space


absence of Christian iconography on the tomb, the link with the tombs ofsaints is surprising and deserves careful consideration. The question, thus, ishow to interpret Riccio’s borrowing from the structure of the tombs of saints.

THE DIDACTIC NATURE OF THE TOMBS OF SAINTS

In Riccio’s design for the Della Torre monument, the typology of the tombof saints appears to have been consciously applied. This is particularlyevident when one takes into account the inclusion of a narrative programmeon the raised tomb-chest. While some secular monuments, such as the tombfor Gaston de Foix, did include narrative cycles, there was an earlier tradi-tion of including some biographical scenes on the tombs of rulers andmilitary figures. The inclusion of a narrative cycle on the Della Torre monu-ment remains unusual. Secular tombs with narrative cycles were sufficientlyinfrequent in the Renaissance, and the inclusion of a biographical narrativeon a funerary monument remained a special feature. Moreover, biographi-cal scenes were not usually presented on the tomb chest itself. Nygren’sresearch has shown that narrative cycles on the tombs of saints are mostfrequently found on the tombs of martyrs, which allows him to argue thatthe narration of the saint’s martyrdom strongly underlines the use of thebiographical narrative as a model for the laity.42 So why did Riccio decide touse the typology of the tombs of saints and the narrative cycle?

The key to answering this question lies in the role of the narrative on thetombs of saints. Illustrating the piety of saints and presenting their lives as thecorrect paths in the pursuit of eternal life, the raised tomb-chest effectivelyestablished the narrative as an important focus of veneration.43 This point wasmade effectively by Bishop Bartolommeo da Vicenza at the unveiling of thearca of St Dominic on June 5, 1267. Stating that the deeds of tyrants found onancient monuments were harmful, the bishop marvelled at the good exemplaron the arca of St Dominic. He pointed out the virtues of the saint andunderlined the value in imitating what was shown: ‘Pro vobis sunt he sculp-ture, si Patrem imitamini; contra vos, quod absit! si sequi renuitis.’44 Indeed,the narratives on the tomb-chests of saints were understood to hold theimportant didactic function of presenting a model of virtue for the viewer.

in 1357. In his 1357 will, Domenico Della Torre requested burial in this space. Sartori, Vol. II., 2093, Archiviodi Stato di Verona, S. Fermo, Reg. 2, 116v. His tomb is now located beneath the floor in the family’s mausoleum.Da Lisca, Studi e ricerche originali sulla chiesa di S. Fermo Maggiore, 90.) These factors, and the placement of thetomb in a private and secluded chamber, would have highlighted the social standing of the Della Torre to theircontemporaries.

42 Nygren, The Monumental Saint’s Tomb, 236–7.43 Tomasi, ‘Il modello antoniano’, 129–32; Moskowitz, Nicola Pisano, 43.44 ’These sculptures are on your side if you imitate the father, against you if (Heaven forbid!) you refuse to

follow him.’ Trans. Moskowitz, in Nicola Pisano, 18. J. J. Berthier, Le Tombeau de Saint Dominique (Paris, 1895), 25and doc. X.

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The supports that raise the arca of St Peter the Martyr would have conveyedthis message quite clearly as they were representations of the Virtues – thesestatues would have been understood by the viewer as foundational to thesaint’s life. Moskowitz contends that, apart from providing the faithful with themodel of behaviour, the monument served as a contemplative aid in the soul’sjourney to be united with God.45

On a purely functional level, Riccio’s choice of the structure of a raisedtomb would have held an obvious value for an artist who wanted to emphasizethe narrative reliefs – this design places the narrative at the best possible anglefor viewing. Since Riccio’s placement of the narrative made it the most visuallyaccessible element of the monument, this choice suggests that the narrativewas one of the most important elements of the monument. As with the tombsof saints, the viewers were encouraged to walk around the Della Torre monu-ment and to view the entire narrative cycle. The biographical narrative on thetombs of saints, which served a didactic function of presenting exemplars forthe laity, should make us consider carefully the overall programme of theDella Torre tomb and the didactic nature of Riccio’s narrative.

Since Riccio’s narrative is allegorical rather than biographical, it divergesfrom the narratives used on the tombs of saints. Riccio resisted presenting acommemoration of two non-saints in the place in which the very structure ofthe monument leads the viewer to expect a narrative of a saint’s life. Instead,Riccio’s narrative is typological rather than biographical, which raises thequestion of whether he was approaching the tombs of saints typologically. Inother words, when Riccio looked at the narrative on the tombs of saints,instead of thinking about the specific life of the saint, was he thinking aboutthe narrative more abstractly? If Riccio saw the life of the individual saint withsuch distance, then biographical narratives would have become abstracted,providing a general model of a saintly life. Such an approach may haveinfluenced Riccio’s decision to depict an allegorical narrative on the DellaTorre monument. Rather than providing a biographical narrative of Girolamoand/or Marcantonio Della Torre, he abstractly presents a noble narrative ofthe life of a professor.

Indeed, the journey of the professor’s soul in the narrative has been linkedto contemporary debates on the nature and immortality of the individualsoul.46 This philosophical and theological issue was addressed by figures in theDella Torre circle, most notably by Niccolò Leonico Tomeo and GirolamoFracastoro. Fracastoro’s writings illustrate that this was prevalent topic and

45 Anita Moskowitz, ‘Giovanni di Balduccio’s Arca di San Pietro Martire: Form and Function’, Arte Lombarda,96/97: 1–2 (1991), 10–1.

46 This link was made by Radcliffe in ‘The Illness of the Professor’, 374 and developed by Dieter Blume in‘Antike und Christentum’, in Herbert Beck and D. Blume (eds.), Natur und Antike in der Renaissance (Frankfurtam Main: Liebieghaus, 1985), 112–22.


subject of great importance within this circle of close friends.47 Not surpris-ingly, the concern with the health of the soul and its life after death runsthrough the narrative and the tomb’s ornamentation as a whole, giving it anintensely spiritual focus. The tomb holds up the means by which eternal life isto be sought. The main focus of the narrative is on the importance of a life ofvirtue as means to eternal life.48 In the closing panel, Riccio emphasizes thattrue glory comes in the form of a virtuous life (Fig. 10), and the only wordinscribed in the narrative is: VIRTUTIS (of virtue). Placed on a vase, theinscription illustrates that virtue is essential to triumph over death. Thetriumph in the final panel not only celebrates the immortal fame ofthe professor, but also the triumph of his soul.

47 Carson, ‘The Tomb’s Narrative and the Contemporary Debates over the Nature and Immortality of theSoul’, in Andrea Riccio’s Della Torre Tomb Monument, 101–04.

48 See Carson, ‘The Tomb’s Narrative and the Contemporary Debates over the Nature and Immortality of theSoul’, and ‘The Tomb, Funerary Elegy, and Oration in the Renaissance’, in Andrea Riccio’s Della Torre TombMonument.

Fig. 10 Andrea Riccio, The Triumph of Humanist Virtue, c. 1516–1521, bronze, 37 x 49 cm, Paris, Musée duLouvre (© Erich Lessing/ Art Resource, NY)

20 Rebekah Carson

CONCLUSION

The connection between Riccio’s design and the tombs of saints sheds light onRiccio’s design process. This correlation between the Della Torre monumentand the tombs of saints illustrates the sophisticated and novel nature ofRiccio’s work, showing how Riccio and his patrons were challenging thenature of funerary art. Begun in a period in which there was much experi-mentation in religious art, Riccio’s design would have encouraged the viewerto look at the importance of virtue and the health of the soul in a new way.This connection further illuminates how pagan and Christian were mixed byRiccio and the Della Torre circle in order to present a Christian message in anew and effective manner.

Since Riccio’s Paschal candelabrum was a source of great inspiration forcontemporary artists, it is reasonable to expect that this tomb would have beenequally influential.49 However, shortly after the tomb was finished, suchexperimentations in religious art fell out of favour and elaborate funerarymonuments were increasingly criticized. It is interesting that the expense andthe size of the Della Torre tomb appear to come into conflict with the family’ssubsequent support for Bishop Gian Matteo Giberti. The Constitutiones, pub-lished in 1542, contains Giberti’s diocesan legislation, which included instruc-tion on burials and funerary monuments. The bishop singled out for criticismtombs that were expensive, larger than altars, and were prominently situated.He argued that the interiors of churches had become overcrowded and thatlarge wall monuments impeded worship.50 Clearly, the size and expense of theDella Torre monument, not to mention the prominent location of the familychapel and burial chamber, could have made this monument susceptible tocriticism in this period. However, its placement in the isolated chamber of themausoleum meant that it was not visible from the nave of the church; thus, itdid not infringe on the decorum of the church and was unlikely to impedeworship.

The unusual aspects of this monument, its design and the lack of Christianiconography, coupled with its size and the use of costly materials, might beinterpreted as mere self-glorification on the part of the Della Torre. However,the structure of the monument and the content of Riccio’s narrative presenta cohesive spiritual theme that prevents dismissing it as vainglorious. Basinghis design on the tombs of saints, Riccio provided a governing structure forreading the tomb’s narrative as a showcase of spiritual exemplarity. The

49 Anthony Radcliffe, ‘The Debasement of Images: the Sculptor Andrea Riccio and the Applied Arts in Paduain the Sixteenth Century’, in S. Currie and P. Motture (eds.), The Sculpted Object 1400–1700 (Aldershot: ScholarPress, 1997), 87–92.

50 Kathyrn Hiesinger, ‘The Fregoso Monument: A Study in Sixteenth-Century Tomb Monuments and Catho-lic Reform’, The Burlington Magazine 118, No. 878 (May, 1976), 284; J. Matteo Giberti, Constitutiones (Verona,1542), 38.


narrative was discernible to a learned audience, but it was also specificallyaimed at this audience, reminding them of the importance of virtue in pre-paring for the afterlife.

While Riccio’s consistency in his application of the pagan language to boththe decorative details and the narrative of the Della Torre monument appearsto reject the decorum of Christian funerary art, the structure of the monu-ment is derived from the quintessential Christian tomb – the tomb of saints.The very design of the Della Torre monument signals the importance of thenarrative programme, presenting a message of timely significance – virtue isthe path to eternal salvation.

University of Toronto

22 Rebekah Carson

Abstract

rebekah carson, The quintessential Christian tomb: saints, professors, and Riccio’s tombdesign

This article examines Andrea Riccio’s design of the Della Torre tomb monument inVerona – one of Riccio’s major commissions that long merited further study. In thisdesign the artist challenged the modes of contemporary funerary art. Although theabsence of Christian iconography and the strict all’antica visual language may appear tobreak with the decorum of Christian funerary art, I argue that Riccio drew on an overtlyChristian design – the tombs of saints. By drawing upon the typology of the tombs ofsaints, the structure of the Della Torre monument signalled to the viewer the didacticnature of Riccio’s narrative programme. Understanding the design of the monumentcasts greater light on the tomb’s programme and the sophisticated nature of Riccio’swork.

Keywords: Andrea Riccio; Renaissance funerary monuments; tombs of saints

Documents

The quintessential Christian tomb: saints, professors, and Riccio's tomb design