Category: 18th century

Tobias Smollett was an acclaimed novelist of his time, known for his picaresque novels, a genre of fiction depicting the comedic and satiric adventures of a  lower-class protagonist. His gift for writing is also reflected in the Travels, which is a personal account that also provides factual information based on other guidebooks. Smollett traveled with his wife across the European continent between 1763 and 1765 in an effort to find a more agreeable climate for his failing health. The letters that comprise his travel book were most likely written while he was staying in Nice. Based on his book, we can reconstruct his travel itinerary. He entered Italy through Genoa, traveled along the Mediterranean coast till he reached Pisa, and then headed to Rome via Florence and Siena.
His gives a critical description of the paintings on the walls of the Camposanto. The drawing is “incorrect, lame and unnatural,” he writes. Still, he recognizes the new developments in  art at the beginning of Renaissance. The section on the earth of the Camposanto is interesting. According to Smollett, the earth consumes bodies in nine days, instead of twenty-four hours, as other authors of his day such as Johann Georg Keyssler record. Smollett is not convinced of the legend, though, and writes of the earth, “it is no other than common earth mixed with quick-lime.” / DJ

“Between the cathedral and this building, about one hundred paces on one side, is the famous burying-ground, called Campo Santo, from its being covered with earth brought from Jerusalem. It is an oblong square, surrounded by a very high wall, and always kept shut. Within-side there is a spacious corridore round the whole space, which is a noble walk for a contemplative philosopher. It is paved chiefly with flat grave-stones: the walls are painted in fresco by Ghiotto, Giottino, Stefano, Bennoti, Bufulmaco, and some others of his contemporaries and disciples, who flourished immediately after the restoration of painting. The subjects are taken from the Bible. Though the manner is dry, the drawing incorrect, the design generally lame, and the colouring unnatural; yet there is merit in the expression: and the whole remains as a curious monument of the efforts made by this noble art immediately after her revival. Here are some deceptions in perspective equally ingenious and pleasing; particularly the figures of certain animals, which exhibit exactly the same appearance, from whatever different points of view they are seen. One division of the burying-ground consists of a particular compost, which in nine days consumes the dead bodies to the bones: in all probability, it is no other than common earth mixed with quick-lime. At one corner of the corridore, there are the pictures of three bodies represented in the three different stages of putrefaction which they undergo when laid in this composition. At the end of the three first days, the body is bloated and swelled, and the features are enlarged and distorted to such a degree, as fills the spectator with horror. At the sixth day, the swelling is subsided, and all the muscular flesh hangs loosened from the bones: at the ninth, nothing but the skeleton remains.”

William Beckford’s travelogue may be the most literary among the travel literature compiled for this blog. Beckford was a novelist, well-known for his Gothic novel Vathek, as well as an art collector. His book is composed of letters from different parts of Europe, written as he traveled.

Letter XV describes him arriving from Lucca and visiting the Duomo and Camposanto in Pisa. The illustrative language and the romanticization of the Gothic architecture in his writing are noteworthy. Beckford emphasizes the exotic aspect of the Camposanto with adjectives such as “light”, “fresh” and “strange.” Although he follows models found in existing travel literature in describing the Camposanto, he also deviates from tradition: the Camposanto is not only a burial place with holy earth from Jerusalem, but a place of experience, full of interesting details.

Source: [William Beckford,] Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents: In a Series of Letters, from Various Parts of Europe (London: J. Johnson and P. Elmsly, 1783)

Letter XV. Livourno, October 2d

“Our next object was the Campo Santo, which forms one side of the opening in which the cathedral is situated. The walls, and gothic tabernacle above the entrance, rising from a level turf, appear as fresh as if built within the century, and, preserving a neat straw colour, have the cleanliest effect imaginable. Our guide unlocking the gates, we entered a spacious cloister, forming an oblong quadrangle, inclosing the sacred earth of Jerusalem, conveyed thither about the period of the crusades, in the days of Pisanese prosperity. The holy mould produces a rampant crop of weeds; but none are permitted to spring from the pavement, which is entirely composed of tombs with slabs and monumental inscriptions, smoothly laid. Ranges of slender pillars, formed of the whitest marble and glistening in the sun, support the arcades of the cloister, which are carved with innumerable stars and roses, partly gothic and partly saracenial. Strange paintings of hell and the devil, mostly taken from Dante’s rhapsodies, cover the walls of these fantastic galleries, attributed to the venerable Giotto, and Bufalmacco, whom Boccace mentions in his Decamerone. Beneath, along the base of the columns, rows of Pagan sarcophagi are placed, to my no small surprise; as I could not have supposed the Pisanese sufficiently tolerant to admit profane sculptures within such consecrated precincts. However, there they are, as well as fifty other contradictory ornaments. I was quite seized by the strangeness of the place, and paced fifty times round and round the cloisters, discovering at every time, some odd novelty. When tired, I seated myself on a fair slab of giallo antico, that looked a little cleaner than its neighbours (which I only mention to identify the precise point of view), and looking through the filigreed tracery of the arches observed the domes of the cathedral, cupola of the baptistery, and roof of the leaning tower, rising above the leads, and forming the strangest assemblage of pinnacles, perhaps, in Europe. The place is neither sad, nor solemn; the arches are airy, the pillars light, and there is so much caprice, such an exotic look in the whole scene, that, without any violent effort of imagination, one might imagine one’s self in fairy land. Every object is new, every ornament original; the mixture of antique sarcophagi with gothic sepulchres, compleats the vagaries of the prospect, to which, one day or other, I think of returning, to act a visionary part, hear visionary music, and commune with sprites; for I shall never find in the whole universe besides, so whimsical a theatre. It was between ten and eleven when we entered the Campo Santo, and one o’clock struck, before I could be persuaded to leave it; and ‘twas the sun which then drove me away; whose heat was so powerful, that all the inhabitants of Pisa shewed their wisdom, by keeping within doors.”

Thomas Nugent was an Irish historian who spent most his life in London. He was a well-read and well-travelled scholar. Thomas Nugent’s The Grand Tour demonstrates a change in the trend of the Grand Tour. As the full title of the book suggests (The Grand Tour. Containing an Exact Description of most of the Cities, Towns, and Remarkable Places of Europe), Nugent has composed a practical guide for eighteenth-century travelers.
In the preface, Nugent explains that he intends the book to be “for real use.” He criticizes earlier travel literature for focusing too much on describing the curious nature of foreign lands; those books, however entertaining the may be, do not contain practical information for a traveler. Perhaps comparable to Wikipedia, Nugent’s book carries encyclopedic information for each country. He divides the information into several sections, starting with a general description of the country, followed by a description of its provinces, giving details of history and politics, he then moves on to social and cultural information. The book was designed for readers to  get thorough knowledge of a country. In Volume 3, Nugent even devoted a whole section to coins in Italy to help travelers avoid confusion.
Camposanto is introduced as one of the major monuments of Pisa. It is notable that the legend of the earth from the holy land is still firmly in place. Unlike many of the earlier sources, Nugent mentions the paintings of Camposanto.

Source: Thomas Nugent, The Grand Tour. Containing an Exact Description of Most of the Cities, Towns, and Remarkable Places of Europe, 4 vols. (London: S. Birt, 1749), 3:329.

“Near it is the burying-place, called Campo Santo, being covered with earth brought from the Holy-Land. This burying place is inclosed with a broad portico, well painted, and paved with grave-stones. Under the portico there is a decree of the city, ordering the inhabitants to wear mourning a year for the death of Caesar.”

Reading Wright’s travel account on Italy is interesting in at least two respects. While following the established tradition of travel literature, his book shows new developments in the genre. Wright’s itinerary followed that of many other English travelers of the time. His journey started with crossing the English Channel. He traveled across France via Paris and Marseilles and reached Italy by ship, with Genoa the first city he visited in Italy. He then traversed Italy to the Adriatic side, reaching Venice and travelling along the coast before returning to the Tyrrhenian side and going up along the left side of the Italian boot. Thus Pisa was part of the second half of his travels in Italy. Following tradition, his entry on Pisa focuses on the monuments in the Piazza del Duomo:  Dome, Camposanto, Baptistery and the Campanile. What is completely different here in comparison to previous travel literature on Pisa is that more attention is given to  the Camposanto than to other monuments in the Piazza del Duomo. Among the literary sources gathered here, his is also the first one that devotes many paragraphs to describing the frescoes and notes his own impressions of them. Besides this preoccupation with art, there is also mention of the word ‘Gothik’ for the first time among the English literature gathered here, used to describe the architecture of the Camposanto. This reflects the beginning of an increased interest in the medieval period, which became associated, sometimes imaginatively, with Italian landscapes.[1] / DJ

[1] Rosemary Sweet, Cities and the Grand Tour: The British in Italy, c.1690-1820 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 236-237.

Source: Edward Wright, Some Observations Made in Travelling through France, Italy etc. in the years 1720, 1721, and 1722, 2 vols. (London: Ward and Wicksteed, 1730), 382-384.

“The Campo Santo is built of the same length and breadth, they say, as Noah’s Ark was: Its inner Area is encompass’d with a curious Cloyster of white Marble, and is filled with Earth which was brought from Jerusalem, as Ballast in the Gallies of the Pisans, when they returned from warring with the Turks, and from thence takes its Name; it was begun to be built in the Year 1200, and was finish’d in 1278. It is a most delightful Structure, tho’ Gothick: The Pavement, which is all of Marble, with Divisions of several Colours, has under it the Sepulchres of the then noble Families of Pisa etc. And if departed Souls have any pleasure in the Position of the Carcasses they have left behind them, sure those of this place have a large proportion of it. All along the Wall of the Cloysters, next the Area, under the Windows, are antique Sarcophagi of white Marble, with Basso-Relievo’s. The other Walls are all pained in Fresco, quite round, and from top to bottom, by some of the first Restorers of Painting in Italy, after the terrible shock all Arts had undergone there, by the Incursion of the barbarious Nations. The principal Hands are, Giotto, Mecharino, Buffalmachi, Benozzo, Sorio, Orcagna etc. The Subjects are chiefly Scriptural, with an Addition of some of their own Legends, and other Fancies, which have some Particulars whimsical and extravagant enough.

To begin with the Side we come in at, which is the South Side; The first design at the East End of it, is what indeed more particularly suits a Coemeterium; they call it the Triumph of Death. The three next are, Judgment, Paradise, and Hell. The follow what they call The Lives of the Hermits. After that, the History of the great Saint and Patron of Pisa, S. Rainerius, in six Compartiments. Then, the Stories of some others of their Saints. Last of all, on this side is the Story of Job, in six large Compartiments, by the famous Giotto. All these are contain’d in the South Side. […] At the East end is a Chapel; and on each side the Entrance into it are likewise Paintings. […] On that toward the South are the Cruxifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Saviour.

And now, having taken a general View of the Designs, and being come again to the Point where I began, I will mention a few Particulars in some of them. In the Piece first mention’d, Death is represented by an ugly old Woman with a Scythe, flying with black Wings: Heaps of Carcasses lie under; Emperors, Kings, Popes, Poor and Rich, all confused: Angels are taking the Souls of the Just out of their Mouths, in the shape of little naked Infants; Devils, those of the Reprobate; which are represented more gross. An Angel and a Devil have got that of a fat Friar between ‘em, in the Air, tugging hard, one at each end, which shall have him: A Crowd of People below, old, poor, lame, and miserable, as wishing for Death, but she rather directs her Scythe to some gay young Persons of both Sexes, who are making merry in a pleasant Shade of Orange-Trees etc. In a corner of this piece is represented what they say is the Property of the Jerusalem Earth (alluding to that in the Area) to reduce a Body to a Skeleton in twenty four Hours: In the first eight Hours it swells; in the second, the Swelling is fallen flat, the Body corrupted, and Worms crawl out; in the third it is reduced to a Skeleton: But till some good Proof be produced that this is really the Property of the Jerusalem Earth, I shall believe it only an Instance of the Triumph of Death, which it was the Painter’s Intention to represent in the general Piece, in several Manners. However, in this Condition lie three Carcasses, in so many several Sarcophagi; and there is one who shews them to three great Persons who come towards them on horseback: One of them leans back, with much dislike, and holds his Nose; the Horse pokes out his Head, as frighted, and snorting. On this Piece is written,

Schermo di sapere e di Richezza / Di Nobiltate e di Prodezza, / Val niente al Colpo di costei (sc. Morte).

Nor Wisdom’s Guard, nor Riches, join’d, / Nor noble Birth, nor val’rous Mind / Avail against Her (sc. Death) Blow.

In the Piece of the Last Judgment, the Painter has put several particular Persons of his own Friends in Paradise, and among the rest, Pope Innocent IV. A Friar, who is got among the Blessed, is lugg’d out by an Angel to take his Station on the other side.

In the Representation of Hell, a great monstrous Devil sits in the middle, with Flames as it were shooting from him each way: His Underlings are variously employed in inflicting Torments, some with Scourges, which they call Disciplines, and several other ways: They are roasting one before the Fire, with a great Spit run up through him; a little Devil is turning the Spit at one end, the other end of it is in the Mouth of one of the tormented. – The piece of Roast-meat, so spitted, they tell you, is a Florentine. – Very whimsical Fancies in so serious a Subject! King Solomon is plac’d in the middle between Paradise and Hell, the Painter not knowing where to put him, because (as they say there) it is a disputed Point among the Doctors whether he be saved or damned: They’re well employed, sure, in such Disputes! In the Life of S. Rainerius is represented a Passage between that Saint and a Vintner, who brought him Water among his Wine. The Saint shews him the Consequence of such Practice, by pointing out to a Devil, who sits perch’d upon a Hogshead in the form of a flying Cat. The Saint miraculously separates the Water from the Wine, and pours it distinct upon the Ground. […]

These are perhaps more than sufficient for a Specimen of the Manner of Thinking of those old Masters. Mich. Angelo, in his famous Piece of the Last Judgment, and Zuccaro in his Cupola of the Dome at Florence, seem to have retain’d a good deal of the same ludicrous and capricious way of Thinking in such Subjects.

The Painting in this fine Cloyster is most of it hard, according to the Manner then in use; nor is there any great Observance of the Chiaro Oscuro (Raphael himself, a good while after, was scarce come into it;) but many of the Countenances are very expressive and good, particularly in those of Giotto and Benozzo. In such Pieces where there is Architecture represented, (as particularly in the Story of Job by Giotto,) it is very accurately perform’d, according to the Taste of those Times.”