Pisa: MRA-ITA-Pis012
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Pis012
Sample Material Type
- Mural painting
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 5.2
- Width
- 4.9
- Height
- 1.7
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 40.3
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Pisa
Site/monument
- Italy (ITA)
Pisa
Camposanto
Historical note about the site/monument
- The Pisan Camposanto is a monument that served initially as an ecclesiastical cemetery and slightly later as a burial for eminent personalities in the city [3, 4] although soon, a basilica-like building was erected to store significant relics. One of these is the 'terra santa', or the earth imported between 1189 and 1192 from the Golgotha, where Jesus' was crucified (indeed, "Campo Santo" means holy field) [2]. Due to the importance of the relics and the magnificence of the construction, the place was interested in consistent pilgrims flocking and devotional visitation. The Camposanto is located on the northern edge of the Cathedral Square, next to the popular Tower of the Baptistery and Pisan Cathedral. The monument was ordered by Archbishop Federico Visconti (1253/4-1277) and the construction was started in 1278 [1] but soon interrupted due to economic crisis to be finally ended in 1464. The building and the mural paintings underwent massive destruction during the Second Global Conflict for the bombing of Allied air forces raids [5] and are under restoration ever since. The place is organized as a cloister, with four main galleries enclosing a wide internal courtyard with a rectangular floor plan. The inner wall is composed of blind arches, while the internal is delimited with windows and tracery in Gothic style, while outer hosts three chapels: Chapel Ammannati (1360), Chapel Aulla (14th century) and Chapel Dal Pozzo (1607). A series of fresco paintings made in three major campaigns from the 1330s through the end of the 15th century [1, p. 99] from local artists and others from other areas [9]. The depictions feature several scenes from the Life of the Virgin, themes related to the Medieval eschatology, biblical representation from the Old and New Testament [1]. One of these is the Triumph of Death. This fresco (ca. 1338-39) is part of the 'eschatological cycle' together with Last Judgment, Inferno, the Thebaid [10] and is traditionally attributed to either Francesco Traiani (act. 1321-63) or Buonamico Buffalmacco (act. 1320-36). The fresco is part of a wider representation portraying on the left the 13th-century English legend of the Three Living and Three Dead while the right side is specifically devoted to the scene strictu sensu. The whole mural painting is a memento mori created during the rages of the 14th-century bubonic plague and examines the themes of temptation, judgment, death, and suffering [10].
Further reading:
[1] Ahl, Diane Cole (2003). Camposanto, Terra santa: Picturing the Holy Land in Pisa. In: Artibus et Historiae, 24, pp.95-122.
[2] Bodner, Neta B. (2015). Earth from Jerusalem in the Pisan Camposanto. Between Jerusalem and Europe, pp. 74-93. Leiden: Brill. DOI: 10.1163/9789004298187_006.
[3] Ronzani, Mauro (2005). Un'idea trecentesca di cimitero: la costruzione e l'uso del Camposanto nella Pisa del secolo XIV. Plus.
[4] Ronzani, Mauro (1997). La formazione della Piazza del Duomo di Pisa (secoli XI-XIV). In: La piazza del duomo nella città medievale (nord e media Italia, secoli XII - XVI) pp. 19-134.
[5] Touring Club Italiano (2003). Toscana. Guida d'Italia (Guida rossa). Milano 2003, p. 348-ssg. ISBN 88-365-2767-1
[6] Baracchini, Clara & Castelnuovo, Enrico (1996). Il camposanto di Pisa, Volume 27. Milano: Einaudi.
[7] Cifani, Arabella & Monetti, Franco (2000). La cappella Dal Pozzo del Camposanto di Pisa. Saggi e Memorie di storia dell'arte, Volume 24, pp. 31-116.
[8] Arias, Paolo Enrico, Cristiani, Emilio & Gabba, Enrico (1977). Il Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa. Le Antichità, Volume 1. Pisa: Pacini Editore. ISBN: 8877810408.
[9] Krén, Emil & Marx, Daniel. Triumph of Death, in Web Gallery of Art, accessed on June 17, 2019.
[10] Boeckl, Christine Maria (1997). The Pisan "Triumph of Death" and the Papal Constitution "Benedictus Deus". In Artibus et Historiae: 18(36), pp. 55-61. DOI: 10.2307/1483598.
Chronological period (sample)
- 14th century