Written Camposanto

The Pisan Cemetery through the Eyes of Chroniclers, Artists and Travelers

Category: 16th century Page 1 of 2

Raffaele Maffei (1451-1522), Commentariorum urbanorum (1506)

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On May 21, 2021

In 15th century, 16th century, Chronicle, Latin

Raffaele Maffei was an Italian humanist, historian and theologian. He was also a member of the Servite Order. The Commentariorum urbanorum from 1506 is an encyclopedia. It consists of three parts: in “Geography,” Maffei writes about history and the whole world arranged by location; the second part, “Anthropology,” is devoted to contemporaneous history; and the third part is called “Philology” and deals with science and natural history. Maffei tells the story of how the emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowned on the expedition and that Archbishop Ubaldo Lanfranchi founded the Camposanto with earth brought back from the Holy Land. /SB

Maffei (excerpt)

Source: Raffaele Maffei, Commentariorum urbanorum Raphaelis Volaterrani octo et triginta libri (Rom: Besicken, 1506).

Liber V. Hetruria – Res Pisanorum

“Deinde Gregorio VIII sequestro qui ea tempestate Pisas venerat pax inter utrunque populum facta, mox ad Hierosolytanam expeditionem cum eodem Frederico classem L. triremium una cum Ubaldo Lanfranco Urbis presule miserunt quae Imperatore in flumine casu demerso statim domum revertit. Sub eodem Presule Campum sanctum dicavere ex terra, quam Hierosolymis adduxerunt, injecta nuncupatum.”

Book 5 Etruscia – on Pisans

Hereupon peace was made between the nations through the mediator Gregory VIII, who had come to Pisa at that time. Then, the campaign went with Frederick to Jerusalem with a fleet of 50 triremes, one with the bishop Ubaldo Lanfranchi, where the emperor fell into the floods and drowned, after which they returned home. Under the same bishop the Camposanto was consecrated with the earth they brought back from Jerusalem and was distributed, as has been said.

Raffaello Roncioni (1553-1618), Delle Istorie pisane (1592-1606)

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On May 13, 2021

In 16th century, 17th century, Chronicle, Italian

Raffaello Roncioni was born in Ranieri in the middle of the sixteenth century. In his Delle Istorie pisane from 1592 to 1606, Roncioni tells the story of Pisa. For our concerns, it is important that he writes about the founding of the Camposanto. He describes how the holy earth got to Pisa thanks to Archbishop Ubaldo and how in the year 1200 the Camposanto was built. He also writes about the building and decoration of the Camposanto. This second part is quite extensive although the description is not very detailed. Roncioni is in full admiration of the building and mentions the use of marble. He takes the local context of the Camposanto into consideration and also writes about how the building was left uncompleted for a long time because Pisa was going through difficult times.

Roncioni Delle Istorie Pisane libri XVI_excerpt2

Edition: Raffaello Roncioni, Delle Istorie Pisane Libri XVI, ed. Francesco Bonaini, Archivio storico italiano, 6.1 (Florenz: Vieusseux, 1844), 453-454.

 

Foundation of the Camposanto

Libro VIII. Dall’anno 1174 al 1198

“In questo medesimo anno [sc. 1200] (come vogliono molti annali di questa città) fu fondato il Camposanto; detto così, per esservi di molta terra santa sparsa per tutto: la quale fu portata dai Pisani, con grande spesa d’oltramare, al tempo del arcivescovo Ubaldo.”

Book VIII. From the year 1174 to 1198

In the same year [sc. 1200] (as many records of this city say) the Camposanto was founded; large quantities of the sacred earth were spread all over the square: this was transported across the sea at great expense by the Pisans in the time of Archbishop Ubaldo.

Building and Decoration of the Camposanto

Libro XI. Dall’anno 1277 al 1288

“[1277] Doppo la guerra civile, Serenissimo Signore, la sua travagliata ma gran città di Pisa avendo otttenuto la pace, non si dette all’ozio (ottimo maestro delle scelleraggini), ma alla fatica, che ai buoni è dolce e soave. E per il passato risplendendo ella, come una delle stelle maggiori nell’aperto cielo tra le minori, fra l’altre città del mondo, per le tre maravigliose sacre fabbriche sue; volse in questi tempi adornarsi d’una che superò tutte l’ altre: e fu quest’ultima opera sua il Camposanto;

luogo così celebre e raro, che io vado dubitando non gli tôrre della sua bellezza e vaghezza con questa mia poco tersa e malpolita penna. Ma avendo io fatto menzione particolare del duomo, del Sangiovanni e del campanile, ai luoghi loro; d’imprudenza e di negligenza sarei accusato, se di tanta fabbrica io lassassi la sua descrizione. Nel qual vizio non volendo cadere, o bene o male che io la dimostri, primieramente a Vostra Altezza Serenissima e poscia al prudente lettore, doveranno di me contentarsi; poichè io ho usato quella maggior diligenza che ho potuto in queste mie istorie, e mi sono ingegnato di pervenire con le mie fatiche a quel segno che ciascuno che scrive brama e desidera: alla quale se io in qualche parte sono arrivato, Ella ch’è prudentissima e sapientissima, e coloro che leggeranno l’opera mia, ne daranno il giudicio. Fu adunque dai Pisani questo gran cimitero cominciato perfino al tempo dell’arcivescovo Ubaldo Lanfranchi;

come di sopra da noi s’è raccontato: ma per le gran guerre che perturbavano lo stato della repubblica, fu per molti anni intermessa questa opera pia, e seguitata in questi tempi. E perché di sotto dirò i nomi di quelli che risedevano nel governo spirituale e temporale, e l’anno che fu fatta; me ne verrò alla sua descrizione, osservando tutto quello che io ho fatto nell’altre cose.

È situata questa fabbrica dietro alla chiesa maggiore per la lunghezza della sua piazza, e volta a settentrione colla faccia che s’accosta alle mura di Pisa; ma con quella per dove ha l’entrata, a mezzogiorno. Ella è tutta, di fuora e di dentro, i suoi colonnati e pavimento, di marmi bianchi coperta, cavati dai vicini monti: cosa rarissima e vaga agli occhi dei riguardanti.

Trovasi la sua lunghezza, per di dentro, a misura di braccia dugento quindici; e la sua larghezza, braccia settantadue: e per di fuora, computandovi la grossezza delle muraglie, braccia dugentoventi; e per il largo, braccia settantasette. L’ordine delle finestre (compartite vagamente da colonnelle di marmi, con vaghi lavori attorno) che sono settantotto, e rinchiudono in un certo modo la terra santa; è composto tutto di bianco marmo, con un numero infinito, sopra a dette finestre, di forme di visi variati; tanto dissimili, che, oggi e per il passato, si usa e si è usato questo trito proverbio tra noi altrt: Io non ho paura di visi scontrafatti, avendo veduto quelli del Camposanto. Dentro a quest’ordine è posta la terra santa, e intorno a quella sessantotto sepolture di rilievo bellissime; che sono tante tombe di marmo, dalle quali hanno cavato e cavano i pittori e scultori di molte cose per abbellire l’opere loro. Dell’altre sepolture, sebbene arrivano poco meno che al numero di settecento, io ne dirò poche parole; e solamente, che si veggono collocate nel suo pavimento di marmo; e poche famiglie si ritrovano in Pisa, che non abbino quivi la sepoltura loro. Intorno a detto cimitero, per di dentro, vi sono molti sepolcri alti dal terreno, dove sono doppo la lor morte state messe (o meglio le memorie loro) diverse persone dottissime: e vive oggidì ancora al mondo, per mezzo di loro scritti, il nome loro. E le principali sono queste: […].
Questo maraviglioso luogo, per più adornezza, è tutto dipinto di varie figure, fatte da eccellentissimi pittori. Da una banda si dimostra il Testamento vecchio, dalla creazione del mondo insino al tempo che la regina Saba andò a visitare il re Salomone. E questa facciata di muraglia, che contiene in sè dimolte cose, fu dipinta da due pittori: la creazione del mondo, lo scacciamento dei primi nostri padri, la morte del giustissimo Abel e la fattura dell’arca, sono opere di Simone di Siena; che fu al tempo di Petrarca, e gli dipinse la sua tanto celebrata Laura. […]. Nell’altra facciata poi, si dimostra la vita del pazientissimo Giobbe, per mano di Cimabue fiorentino. La vita poi di san Rinieri pisano, di santo Efiso e Potito, dei Santi Padri nelle solitudini d’Egitto, la resurrezione dei morti, e finalmente il giudizio universale, non sapendo io qual pittore vi si sia affaticato dentro, le passerò tutte con silenzio; e con dire, che, per più sua magnificenza, questo sacro luogo è coperto di lame di piombo, porrò fine alla sua descrizione: restandomi solamente a dire l’anno della sua edificazione, che fu del MCCLXXVIII; sedendo nella sedia pontificale di Roma Niccolò III di questo nome; e nella pisana, Federigo; nell’imperiale di occidente, Ridolfo d’Austria; e potestà di Pisa, Tarlato Tarlati aretino.” (587-590).

Book XI. From the year 1277 to 1288

After the civil war, illustrious lords, the tormented but great city of Pisa had found peace. This is not to say in idleness (the best master of the sacrilegious), but in work, which is sweet and gentle for good men. And through the past it shone out among the other cities of the world like one of the greatest stars in the open sky among the smaller ones, through the three marvelous sacred buildings. She has adorned herself in these times with one that surpasses all others. This is her last work, the Camposanto.

A place so famous and rare that I doubt I will not rob it of its beauty and vagueness with my unpolished pen. Since I have mentioned the Cathedral, San Giovanni and the Bell Tower in their places, I would be accused of imprudence and carelessness if I omitted to describe such a structure. Since I do not want to commit this sin, whether I present it well or badly, first your serene highness and then the wise reader must be satisfied with me. For I have applied as much diligence as I could in my story and have endeavored to attain that goal which everyone who writes longs for and desires. If I have achieved this in any part, then you, who are the brightest and the wisest, and those who read my work, will give their judgment. The Pisans had begun the construction of the building, in fact in the time of Archbishop Ubaldo.

 

As said by us above: due to the great wars that disturbed the state of the Republic, this pious work was interrupted for many years and continued in these times. And because I want to mention below the names of those who sat in the ecclesiastical and secular government and the year in which it was made, I will now come to their description and observe everything as I did with the other things.

This building is located behind the main church, on the long side of its square, and faces north towards the city walls of Pisa but where the entrance faces south. The colonnades and the floor are covered externally and internally with white marble obtained from nearby mountains. A thing very rare and charming in the eyes of those who see it.

 

Its length is 215 armlengths inside and 72 armlengths wide. Outside, it is 220 armlengths long with the thickness of the wall considered together and 77 armlengths wide. There are marble columns arranged around the windows, which are 78 in number, enclosing the holy earth in a certain way. Everything is made of white marble, and above the windows there is an infinite number of shapes of different faces; these are so dissimilar in design that a trite saying is used and has been used among the rest of us: I am not afraid of collapsed faces after seeing those of the Camposanto. The holy earth is placed inside this order, around which there are 68 graves that are beautifully carved. These are tombs made of marble, painters and sculptors have excavated and quarried many things to embellish their works. Of the other tombs, although they amount to a little less than seven hundred, I will say a few words and only of those that are found in the marble floor. And few families can be found in Pisa that do not have their grave there. Inside this cemetery, in the center, there are many graves of many highly respected people deep in the earth, where they were transferred after death, or the memory of it. And still today, they live in the world through their writings and their names. The most important of them are: […]

For more decoration, this marvelous place is painted with various pictures by the most excellent painters. In one corridor, you can see the Old Testament, from the Creation of the World to the time of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. This facade, which contains many things, was painted by two painters. The Creation, the expulsion of our first fathers, the death of the righteous Abel and the Building of the Ark are the works of Simon of Siena, which was done at the time of Petrarch, and he painted Petrarch’s much-celebrated Laura for him. […].

The other facade, which shows the life of the patient Job, is by the hand of the Florentine Cimabue. The life of St. Ranieri of Pisa, saints Efiso and Potito, the Holy Fathers in solitude in Egypt, the Resurrection of the Dead and finally the Last Judgment, not knowing who painted them, I will pass them in silence. In saying that this building gains even more splendor with its roof of lead, I will end my description. It only remains to say that it was built in 1278. On the papal chair in Rome sat Niccolò III, of that name, and in Pisa, Federigo. The emperor in the West was Rudolf of Habsburg and the ruler in Pisa was Tarlato Tarlati from Arezzo.

Anonimo Magliabechiano (c. 1540/1550)

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On May 13, 2021

In 16th century, Art and artists, Italian


The anonymous author of the Codice Magliabechiano cl. XVII. 17 probably had close connections to the Medici court and the manuscript is the most comprehensive source for the biographies of artists in Italy before Vasari’s Vite. The manuscript has been attributed to many different authors. The author is likely to be Bernardo Veccietti (1514-1590), a Florentine humanist and art connoisseur. The manuscript belonged to the Gaddi family and, together with the codices Gaddiani, it became part of the Bibliotheca Magliabechiana. This manuscript, with 128 pages made of paper, and dating to 1540/1550, mainly focuses on Florentine artists, but the author also writes about artists from the antiquity. Vasari’s Lives contains some of the same information, but it is not clear if either Vasari or this author had consulted the other’s work. Both authors seem to have had access to a manuscript of Antonio Billi’s work from about 1515. The Codice Magliabechiano cl. XVII. 17 draws from other sources too. For the description of artists from antiquity, which makes up the first 42 pages, the author consulted Pliny’s Historia Naturalis and Eusebius’ Chronicus Canon. Cimabue’s life comes directly after the lives of the artists from antiquity. For the biographies of Trecento and Quattrocento artists, he also made use of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s I Commentarii and Christoforo Landino’s Comento sopra la Comedia di Dante Aligheri. For Giotto’s biography, he quoted from Boccacio’s Decamerone. He paraphrases his sources, combining them with his own comments. For some artists, he added an index of their followers. The manuscript is structured chronologically, is written in the vernacular, and seems to be incomplete. There are some empty pages, and it is written in a rushed and undisciplined style. The author added some notes and comments to the text and he was probably trying to complete his endeavor. But the manuscript was never printed and there are no sources indicating such a plan. Nonetheless, comments on artists working in Pisa such as Taddeo Gaddi, Bernardo di Cione, Buoanmico Buffalmacco and Antonio Veneziano make this work valuable for the study of the Camposanto, although his comments on painters in Pisa are rather brief.

Anonimo Magliabechiano_excerpt

Edition: Il Codice Malgliabechiano cl. XVII. 17 contenente notizie sopra l’arte degli antichi e quelle de’ Fiorentini da Cimabue a Michelangelo Buonarrati, scritte da Anonimo Fiorentino, ed. Carl Frey (Berlin: G. Grote, 1892).

14.1. Taddeo Gaddi

“E seguitò il modello del campanile di San Giovannj, dal suo maestro Giotto incominciato. A Pisa in campo santo dipinse molte storie di Job.” (55)

 

14.2. Bernardo [di Cione]

“In Pisa dipinse la chiesa di San Paulo a ripa d’Arno et in campo santo lo inferno.” (56)

 

14.3. Buonamico Buffalmacco

“In Pisa in campo santo fece detto Buffalmaccho molti lavorj. Dipinse a San Paulo a ripa d’Arno historie del testamento vecchio e molte historie di verginj.” (58)

 

14.4. Antonio Veneziano

“A Pisa in campo santo le storie di San Rinierj sono di sua mano.” (61)

 

He followed the model of the Campanile of San Giovanni, which his teacher Giotto started. He painted many stories of Job in the Camposanto in Pisa.

 

 

He painted the Church of San Paulo in Pisa on the bank of the Arno and in the Camposanto he painted Hell.

 

It is said that he did a lot in the Camposanto in Pisa. He painted the stories from the Old Testament and many stories of the Virgin Mary in San Paulo on the bank of the Arno.

 

 

The stories of St. Ranieri are [painted] by his hand.

Giovan Battista Totti, Dialogo sul Camposanto (1593)

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On May 12, 2021

In 16th century, Guidebook, Italian

In this unpublished manuscript from 1593, Giovan Battista Totti writes a dialogue concerning the Camposanto. Totti was a canon of the Cathedral of Pisa for about 30 years between 1567 and 1595. In choosing to write a dialogue, Totti followed the taste of his time. This dialogue was only accessible in a series of manuscripts, and remained relatively obscure. The original is now lost, but several copies still exist. One of them is in the Archivio Capitolare Pisano, from which the following passage is transcribed. Three additional copies are in the Biblioteca Universitaria, and one is in the Archivio di Stato di Pisa. The Dialogo is an important source on the Camposanto and its frescoes at the end of the sixteenth century.
Educated in theology, Totti knew the writings of the Fathers of the Church as well as of antiquity. He was familiar with commentaries on the scriptures, medieval collections of ascetic sermons, saints’ lives, and even rabbinic writings. Through his position as canon, he had access to many documents concerning the religious and civic history of Pisa. At the time of the publication of the Dialogo, Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550, 1568) had already been published, and Totti’s references to this work reveal his familiarity with it. Still, Totti followed a personal approach that honours the local tradition, drawing on his direct knowledge of the paintings from visits to the Camposanto throughout all the years he was a canon of the Cathedral of Pisa.
The protagonists of the Dialogo are a priest who, like Totti, is a man of the church, and two pilgrims coming from France. The priest serves as a guide for the pilgrims. The dialogue has a religious and moral message, as the protagonists mostly talk about the frescoes which serve to communicate a moral lesson. An example of this kind of reading of the frescoes in the Camposanto is the interpretation of the Triumph of Death in which the priest sees the three dead bodies as representing different stages of a sinful life. The corpse that is least decomposed stands for the sinner when he is twenty years old, still torn between good and bad. The second corpse represents the forty-year-old sinner, who has already fallen into sin without any hope of turning his life around. The third corpse is the sinner who is close to death and has completely lost anything that was once good in him.
The following excerpt of the Dialogo tells of the war in Palestine and the situation of the Pisans during the Third Crusade. Totti describes how the holy earth was brought from Jerusalem to the Camposanto in Pisa by Archbishop Ubaldo, who took part in the crusade. He writes about the building of the Camposanto, starting in the year 1200 with the efforts of Archbishop Ubaldo. Interestingly, he says that the earth came to Pisa in three separate loads and was distributed accordingly in the Camposanto. After this historical introduction, Totti has the aforementioned protagonists speak about the Camposanto. They all seem to be in high admiration of the building. But that is not all. They also talk about the power of the holy earth in the Camposanto. By describing how the earth can quickly decompose not only bodies, but also stones, its magical power is made clear. / SB

Source: Unpublished manuscript. Pisa, Archivio Capitolare Pisano, ms C. 43 (transcription by Michele Bacci).

[c. 6v-7r, durante la terza crociata, dopo la morte di Federico Barbarossa, i Pisani guidano la spedizione navale durante l’assedio di Tolemaide]
Dall’altra banda li potenti armati essendo andati costeggiando l’Asia messi genti nella terra della Palestina essendone stato fatto capo Ubaldo Arcivescovo di Pisa vi ridusse in diverse scorrerie fino presso Jerusalem, et qui benché havesse alcuna controversia di soldati del presidio lasciatovi dal Saladino et di già personalmente s’era transferito al soccorso di Tolemaide assediata da Filippo et Riccardo insieme, e diverse natione del populo Christiano Acco, l’Arcivescovo havendo costretto il presidio della città a starsi ristretti nelle sue mura hebbi comodità in quella impresa del Monte Calvario, et à perpetua memoria fece levare di quella terra certa quantità, dove stette la croce di nostro Signore, et mandatone molti corbi et somari carichi all’armata la mandò per certo vasello al Capitolo et Repubblica Pisana, ed avvisò che quella era di quella terra del campo, dove il Signore fu crocifisso.
Ubaldo ritornato a Pisa con la gente, che salvata haveva da quell’assedio, a sue spese comprò certe case che in quel luogo erano con un poco d’orto aspettanti al Capitolo et havendole spiantate vi sparse sopra quella terrasanta del campo, ove il Signore fu crocifisso, et ne fece il proprio campo, che è l’uno de’ tre chiostri, che in esso vederete, à reverenza spartola in quel luogo, dond’era stata cavata, ponendogli nome Camposanto per haverlo benedetto con quella solennità che à tal cosa s’appartiene. Poi nell’anno 1200 il detto Arcivescovo dette principio all’edificazione di quest’edifizio, il quale fu fornito per spatio di tempo si come per l’istesso epitaffio havete letto, et per poco doppo à quest’anni mandate due altre navi, nel tempo del dominio, et i Pisani hebbero di terra santa, nella quale fabbricorno quel nobil castello, et [c. 8r] fin’alli nostri giorni vi si vede in piedi, ove sta presidio del Turcho, perciò mi fa pensare che ella sia stata così compartita, in tre partiti, poiché l’Arcivescovo Ubaldo ne portò una parte, et l’altra fu condotta in due volte da navi grosse, le quali possono essere state compartite, et sparso la terra in tre lati, come havete inteso, hora in quello stesso giorno, et Ubaldo fondò il Camposanto, et il popolo pisano dette principio all’Arsenale…

[c. 6v-7r, during the Third Crusade, after the death of Frederick Barbarossa, the Pisans led the expedition at sea during the siege of Acre (Ptolemais)]

On the other side, the powerful army, having gone up the coast of Asia, put people on the land of Palestine, and Archbishop Ubaldo was engaged in diverse raids up to Jerusalem. There he had some skirmishes with soldiers of Saladin who were sent for protection and had personally rushed to protect Acre (Ptolemais), besieged by Philip and Richard and by many Christian nations.

 

After forcing the garrison to stay inside the walls, he took a certain amount of earth from Calvary, where the cross of our Lord stood, for eternal remembrance, and sent many carts and donkeys to the fleet, and sent it with a safe fleet to the chapter and the Republic of Pisa, saying that it was the earth from the field where our Lord was crucified.

 

Ubaldo returned to Pisa with the people he had saved from the siege and bought at his own expense some houses in that place with a small garden adjacent to the chapter. After leveling the ground, he distributed the holy earth from the field where the Lord was crucified and made a field of his own, which is one of the three cloisters that they will see and reverently divided the place and called it Camposanto to bless it with the appropriate consecration, as it belongs to that cause.
Then, in 1200, that same Archbishop began the construction of the building, which served for some time, as the epitaph reads. And shortly after, two more ships were sent and the Pisans conquered the holy land, where they built this noble castle. Until our days you can see where they went on foot, where the territory of the Turks is, that is why I think that the land was divided in three and Archbishop Ubaldo brought part of it and the other part was brought in two big ships and then the earth was divided in three sides, as may be understood, and on the same day Ubaldo founded the Camposanto and the Pisan people started the Arsenal…

[c. 8r-8v, ammirazione del Camposanto] Pell. O che mirabile, et dilettevole edifitio, o sopra tutti gl’altri cimiterii bellissimo. Comp. Non meno restiamo ammirati della sua beltà, et della contrarietà che sogliono indurre gli altri luoghi, ove i corpi nostri si seppelliscono. Pell. Non è maraviglia per certo sì come questo di bellezza avanza gl’altri per conseguenza insieme ha da superargli di condictione. Campagno. Veramente così è, perché negl’altri toscani cimiterii l’orrore delle tant’ossa c’hanno atterriti, et in questo per contro ci siamo rallegrati. Prete. Forse l’ossa che negl’altri si vedono cagionano tal’effetto, la qual cosa in questo non succede, per consummarsi con la carne et l’ossa in tutto […].

[c. 8r-8v, Admiration of the Camposanto]
Pilgrim: Oh, what a wonder and what a delightful building, more beautiful than any other cemetery. Companion: Not only do we admire the beauty, but also the contrast that evokes other places where our bodies are buried. Pilgrim: Surely this is no wonder, for this one is ahead of the others in beauty and deserves a higher judgment. Companion: Indeed, it is so, because in the other Tuscan cemeteries we were frightened by the bones, in this one, on the contrary, we rejoice. Priest: Perhaps the bones cause this effect in the others, because there the bones and the flesh are not completely decomposed […].

 

[cc. 239v-240v, descrizione della “terrasanta”]

Comp. Perché stanno queste urne antiche così poste intorno a questo chiostro? Pell. Sono del pubblico, o de’ particolari? Prete. Di più prove sono converse (?) erono prima e fuori del campo santo attorno alla chiesa maggiore prima che si gli facessoro le gradelle le quali messoro per dove è la terra santa la qual terra sì come io vi dissi al principio del nostro ragionamento posta in questi tre quadri per esservi stata portata in tre volte da Hierusalem nella città, la quale consuma non solamente la carne, ma l’ossa, et assai volte si trova esser consumata la carne prima che i panni. Io mi son ritrovato più volte a vedere l’effetto, et vedete questo osso scoperto e questa parte che tocca la terra: vedete che è terra, et questo di sopra che ò all’aria è sodo, e se tra tre giorni tornaste qui hora che l’ho coperto con la terra lo trovereste convertito in terra, questa benedetta terra non solamente consuma l’ossa ma rode l’altra terra che vi si pone, consuma [c. 240r] fino alli sassi, in essa vi si notano i sepolcri che sotto questi anditi son pieni di corpi, et in tre o quattro giorni son tutti terra, non mai esce da questo campo puzzo dal corpo che vi è posto e quando da questi avelli esce fetore alcuno preso un pugno di questa terra et posto à questo fetore di subbito passa quel fetore, questo cumulo di terra che sopra accansa (?) alquanto la terra del campo santo quando si fece questo sepolcro del Buoncompagno tutti quelli calcinacci le scaglie et terra cavata per il fondamento si pose in questo luogo et era alta più di un huomo et hoggi à poco à poco è avvallata quasi che è niente come vedete, ma quello che è degno di considerazione è che la terra del continuo abassa di tutti quanti tre campi come vedete et quelle pietre poste al secondo quadro da i portoghesi erano al pari delle gradelle, et hoggi non solo sono annullate et appena si vedono ma si vanno consumando, et in breve diventeranno terra. Nel notare un sepolcro d’una confraternità nel quale non capivano più corpi vi fu di quattro giorni avanti posta una fanciullina di 4 anni la quale conoscevo, et spesso alla porta sì gli dava una limosina fu vota (?) per sepolcro et fatto à caso come avvenne per accortezza di simili che fanno quest’arte scoperta la metà del capo à questa fanciulletta fuora della terra santa, doppo à 5 o 6 giorni à caso passando religiosi di qui veddero quel capo. Guard. Io mi ritrovai a cavarlo, questo. Tutto quello che era stato nella terra era consumato fin’agli occhi et la fronte con parte del capo, et haveva la carne viva [c. 240v] et la rete con un poco di ghirlanda di fiori et il bocciolo in capo senza mancamento. Prete. Il guardiano ha detto quello che dir volevo io. Pellegrino. Cosa in verità degna di considerazione.“

[cc. 239v-240v, description of the “Sacred Earth”]

Companion: Why are these ancient urns inside this cloister? Pilgrim: Do they belong to the people, or are they certain individuals? Priest: Of a few it is certain that they were moved and were first placed outside the Camposanto around the Cathedral before the steps were made where the holy earth is, which, as I said at the beginning of our discussion, is placed in these three fields because it was brought in three loads from Jerusalem to the city and decomposes not only the flesh but also the bones and many times it has turned out that the flesh decomposed before the clothes. I found myself seeing this effect and seeing the bone where it touches a part of the ground: behold that this is earth, and that the earth in the air is solid, and if you were to return in three days, what I have covered with earth would have become earth. This blessed earth not only makes the bones decay, but it consumes other earth that lies in it and stones. What should also be mentioned is that graves that are in it, full of corpses, have completely turned to earth in three or four days. Stench never comes from this field from the corpses that lie there, and if any stench appears, then take a handful of the earth and put it on the stinking part and the stench immediately goes away. This pile of earth that rose above some of the earth of the Camposanto was made when the tomb of Buoncompagno was made and the rubble, the splinters and the excavated earth for the foundation was laid out in this place and was taller than a man; now, however, it has sunk in, piece by piece so that you can’t see any of it anymore. But what is worth considering is that the earth continues to sink in all three fields as you can see and the stones that were placed by the Portuguese in the second field and were like steps have now disappeared and are barely visible and will become earth in a short time. I would like to point out that four days ago, in a tomb of the confraternity where there were no more bodies, a little girl I knew was buried. And often a little money was given to him at the entrance and as if by chance through the cunning of those who practice this craft, half of the girl’s head remained uncovered and protruded from the holy earth and after five or six days, believers passing by discovered the head. Guard: I found myself with that corpse. Everything that was in the earth was decomposed up to the eyes and the forehead. Priest:The guard said what I wanted to hear from him. Pilgrim: That is indeed worth considering.

 

Raffaelo Borghini (1537-1588), Il Riposo (1584)

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On May 12, 2021

In 16th century, Art and artists, Italian

Not much is known about Raffaelo Borghini. He was probably born in Florence in 1537, and he may be identified with Raffaelo di Francesco di Raffaelo, the son of Francesco Borghini. In Il Riposo, his friendship with a certain Giambologna is mentioned. Raffaelo Borghini probably travelled to France in 1579, and he seems to have had a spiritual crisis that led him to abandon his literary work and made his friend Baccio Valori intervene. He not only wrote about artists, he also wrote plays.Il Riposo was published in Florence in 1584 and is dedicated to Giovanni Medici. It is about art and the lives of artists from Florence. The most famous writer in this regard is of course Vasari, but we don’t know if Borghini and Vasari knew each other. Borghini does briefly mention the Vite just as he mentions Pliny as a source for ancient art. Il Riposois much shorter than the Vite though. In Il Riposo, Borghini writes about Giotto working in the Camposanto, and Spinello Aretino is also given mention. Both descriptions are rather short but are nonetheless interesting. They only briefly mention the works these artists allegedly did in the Camposanto and focus more on the biographies of the artists. /SB

Borghini, Riposo 291-295, 302-303

Source: Raffaello Borghini, Il Riposo in cui della Pittura, e della Scultura si favella, de’ più illustri Pittori, e Sculturi, e delle più famose opere loro si fa mentione, e le cose principali appartenenti à delle arti s’insegnano (Florence: G. Marescotti, 1584).

Libro Terzo

“Da Cimabue apparò l’arte Giotto, il quale nacque l’anno 1276 nel contado di Firenze vicino alla Città quattordici miglia, in una villa detta Vespignano, di padre contadino […].

Ritornato [sc. Giotto] à Firenze [sc. da Assisi] dipinse una tavola entrovi San Francesco con molti bei paesi e historie della sua vita, la quale è oggi in San Francesco di Pisa, mediante la qual opera essendo chiamato da’ Pisani dipinse à fresco in Campo Santo l’historia di Giobbe in sei parti. Laonde spargendosi per tutto la fama dell’eccellenza d’un tanto huomo; mandò Papa Benedetto nono da Treviso un suo famigliare in Toscana per haver relatione delle cose di Giotto con animo da fargli in San Piero alcune pitture.” (291, 294-295)

Third Book

From Cimabue came the art of Giotto, who was born in 1276 in the region of Florence, 14 miles away from the city of Florence, in a villa named Vespignano, his father a farmer […].

As he [Giotto] returned from Assisi to Florence, he painted St. Francis with many beautiful towns and stories of his life, which is now in San Francesco in Pisa, through which, called by the Pisans, he painted in the Camposanto the story of Job in six parts. Therefore, this man’s reputation spread widely; Pope Benedict IX from Treviso sent a family member to Tuscany in order to get in contact with Giotto and he fervently persuaded him to paint a few pictures in St. Peter.

“Spinello di Luca Aretino nato in Arezzo fu poscia buon pittore. […] In San Miniato in Monte fuor di Firenze dipinse la sagrestia con molte historie della Vita di San Benedetto, e la tavola d’altare à tempera con bellissimi colori. Andatosene poi à Pisa dipinse in Campo Santo sei historie di San Petito, e di San Epiro, la qual opera fu la più bella, e la meglio condotta che facesse Spinello, la quale si è insino à hoggi molto fresca mantenuta. Dipinse ancora in San Francesco una Cappella entrovi l’historia di San Bartolomeo, e d’altri Apostoli.” (302, 303).

Spinello di Luca Aretino who was born in Arezzo was a good painter. […] In San Miniato outside of Florence he painted the sacristy with many stories from the life of St. Benedict and the altarpiece in tempera with beautiful colors. When he left for Pisa, he painted six stories of St. Petito and St. Epiro in the Camposanto. This work is the most beautiful and the best under the direction of Spinello and is well preserved until today. Then he further painted the story of St. Bartholomew and of other apostles in a chapel in San Francesco.

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