Written Camposanto

Charles-Nicolas Cochin was a French engraver, writer and art critic. He learned painting and engraving from his artist father. Among Cochin’s famous works are the illustrations for La Fontaine’s Fables. Voyage d’Italie is an abridgment of the notes and observations on the masterpieces seen in Italy, recorded by the artist during the trip he made between 1749 and 1751, in the company of the Marquis de Marigny (future director general of King’s Buildings), and the architect Soufflot and the Abbé Leblanc. In this book, Cochin writes about relatively small cities, like Colorno and Foligno, but not Rome. He explains in the preface: “I have not written anything about the masterpieces of art seen in Rome. This city contains such a large number of them, that I did not have enough time to collect notes on them.” Cochin’s guide remained a reference work for many years, particularly for travelers eager for artistic knowledge, and it is still a valuable source for art historians today. The description of the Camposanto includes his observations about the architecture and the wall paintings. Art being the principal interest of his travel, or perhaps because the legend of the holy earth is slowly dying out around the mid-eighteenth century, Cochin does not mention anything about the effect of the holy earth. / DJ

Source: Charles-Nicolas Cochin, Voyage d’Italie, Ou Recueil De Notes Sur Les Ouvrages De Peinture & De Sculpture, Qu’on Voit Dans Les Principales Villes D’italie, 3 vols. (Paris: Jombert, 1758), 2:102-103.

Transcription

“Campo Santo, édifice gothique, assez beau. C’est un grand cloître, au milieu duquel est un cimetiere de terre apportée, dit-on, de Jérusalem. Il y a quantité de tombeaux de marbre, dont quelques-uns sont antiques: mais ils ne sont pas d’une beauté digne de remarque. Ce cloître est décoré de peintures anciennes, dès les commencemens de la peinture, par conséquent mauvaises: on y remarque cependant déjà une facon de draper & de former les plis, fort bonne, quoique séche et des caracteres de têtes, qui ont de la vérité, mais baisse: il semble que ce soit des portraits servilement & froidement rendus.

Le six Histoires de Job sont dites du Giotto; le Jugement dernier, d’André d’Orcagne et l’Historie de S. Ranieri, de Simon Memmi. Ce cloître est bâti de marbre, comme presque tous les édifices importans de cette ville, le voisinage des carrieres le rendant très-commun dans ce pays.”

Translation

Campo Santo, a gothic building, quite beautiful. It is a large cloister, in the middle of which is a cemetery of earth, which is said to be brought from Jerusalem. There are many marble tombs, some of which are ancient, but they are not of a beauty worthy of note. The cloister is decorated with ancient paintings, from the very beginning of painting, and therefore bad. One notices, however, a way of draping and forming pleats that is very good, although dry, and the heads of characters have authenticity, but are flawed: they seem to be slavishly and coldly rendered portraits.

The six stories of Job are said to be by Giotto; the Last Judgment, by Andrea Orcagna, and the story of Saint Ranieri, by Simon Memmi  [=Simone Martini]. The cloister is built from marble, like almost all of the important buildings of this city, the proximity of the quarries making it very common in this country.

Born into an aristocratic family in Dijon, Charles de Brosses studied law and was later appointed the president of the parliament in his hometown. As a scholar and philosopher, he had many interests, such as history, philology and linguistics. De Brosses  mostly stayed in Dijon and its surrounds during his lifetime, but between 1739 and 1740, he travelled to Italy. From Dijon, he headed to Avignon and sailed from Antibes to Genoa. In Italy, he visited major cities such as Venice, Bologna, Florence and Rome, travelling as far as Naples. During the trip, he sent letters to his friends with his impressions of what he saw and experienced. Lettres Historiques et Critiques sur l’Italieis a collection of those letters, published posthumously in 1799. Honest remarks are characteristic of de Brosses’ letters. Interestingly, he refers to the style of architecture of the Camposanto as gothic. In his view, the Camposanto is a rather strange place, and he criticizes the frescoes, describing them as odd. /DJ

De Brosses, Lettres sur l Italie (excerpt)

Edition: Charles de Brosses, Lettres Historiques Et Critiques Sur L’italie, 3 vols. (Paris: Ponthieu, [1799]), 2:77-78.

Transcription

“Le campo santo, ou cimetière, est la troisième pièce [after the Cathedral and the Baptistery], plus singulière que les deux précédentes. C’est un grand cloître quarré qui enferme un préau tout de terre apporté de Jérusalem, qui à ce que l’on prétend, égaie mieux que nulle autre les mânes des pauvres défuntes. Le cloître est d’architecture gothique, assez joli, tout pavé de tombes de marbre, contenant pour la plupart quelque chose de remarque. On a rangé tout le long des murs un grand nombre de tombeaux antiques, lesquels ont donné lieu au savant ouvrage du cardinal Noris, Cenotaphium Pisanum. Il y en a aussi quelques-uns modernes, dont les meilleurs sont ceux du jurisconsulte Decius et de Buon Compagni, oncle du pape Grégoire XIII. Les murs sont tous peints à fresque de la main de Giotto d’Orcagna, de Benedetto, etc., qui y ont représenté les histoires de la Bible d’une manière fort bizarre, fort ridicule, parfaitement méchante et très-curieuse. Je me souviens d’un Noë montrant sa nudité, près duquel est une jeune fille qui, se bouchant les yeux avec la main, écarte les doigts de toute sa force pour ne point voir.”

Translation

The campo santo, or cemetery, is the third piece [after the Cathedral and the Baptistery], more unusual than the two preceding ones. It is a large square cloister that encloses an earthen courtyard brought from Jerusalem, which, it is said, better than any other, cheers up the spirits of the poor dead. The cloister is of gothic architecture, quite pretty, all paved with marble tombs, for the most part containing something of note. A great number of ancient tombs have been arranged along the walls, and these gave rise to the learned work of Cardinal Noris, Cenotaphium Pisanum. There are also some modern ones, the best of which are those of the jurisconsult Decius [=Filippo Decio] and Buon Compagni [Boncompagni], uncle of Pope Gregory XIII. The walls are all painted in fresco by Giotto d’Orcagna, Benedetto, etc., who represented the stories of the Bible in a very strange, ridiculous, wicked and curious way. I remember a Noah showing his nakedness, near to which is a young girl who, covering her eyes with her hand, spreads her fingers with all her strength not to see.”

Van der Vynckt was born in Ghent and studied law at the university of Louvain. He then traveled to France, Italy, and Germany. On his return, he was appointed a member of the council of Flanders in 1729. He devoted himself to studying the history of the Flemish region and the Netherlands and published several books on the topic. His description of the Camposanto reflects a general change in how the Camposanto was viewed. Starting in the eighteenth century, more travel accounts tend to include descriptions and critiques of the wall paintings. Earlier travelers had paid more attention to the legend of holy earth and the tomb inscriptions at the Camposanto; more often than not, the frescoes were not mentioned. / DJ

Vynckt, Pisa (excerpt)

Edition: Luc-Joseph van der Vynckt, Voyage En Italie De Trois Gentilshommes Flamands, Bulletin de l’Institut Historique Belge de Rome 30 (1957): 215-536, 326.

Transcription

Il Campo santo, ainsi nommé parce que le cimetière qui est au milieu, est rempli de terre sainte qu’on y a apportée de la Palestine, est un grand bâtiment quarré en galerie à l’entour de ce cimetière. Cette galerie est belle, on y voit quantité de monumens, tombeaux et pierres sépulchrales; les murs sont peints en fresque des actions héroïques et des guerres des Pisans; on y voit le Paradis et l’Enfer, dans l’idée du célèbre poète Dante, et Salomon, dans ses habits royaux, qui sort de sa sépulture dans une attitude qu’on ne scauroit dire s’il va au Paradis ou à l’Enfer. L’exterieur du Campo santo est de marbre et est une longue façade, il est à droite du Dôme quand on a le dos contre la façade ou le grand autel. Dans les galleries de ce Campo sont inhumés beaucoup de grands personnages.

Translation

The Campo Santo, so called because the cemetery in the middle is filled with the holy earth brought from Palestine, is a large building in a square form arranged in a gallery around the cemetery. This gallery is beautiful and has a lot of monuments, tombs and tombstones; the walls are painted in fresco with the heroic deeds and wars of the Pisans; you can see Paradise and Hell, according to the idea of the famous poet Dante, and Solomon in his royal clothes, who comes out of his tomb in such a way that you can’t tell if he is going to Heaven or Hell. The exterior of the Campo Santo is made of marble and has a long facade, it is on the right side of the Cathedral when one’s back is against the facade or the high altar. Many great characters are buried in the galleries of this Campo Santo.

A Dominican priest and missionary, Jean-Baptiste Labat was born in 1663. After teaching philosophy for some years, in 1693 Labat obtained permission from the Dominican order to depart for the French West Indies. He first sailed to Martinique, and in the parish of Macouba he oversaw the building of a new church. In the next thirteen years or so, he stayed in the West Indies and visited English and Dutch colonies, such as Barbados and Grenada, and gained knowledge in engineering and architecture. He was also a naturalist and a scientist, and made records of the trees, plants, fruits and herbs of the islands. His experiences and observations were published in six volumes with the title, Nouveau Voyage aux iles de l’Amérique. The series was very popular and was translated into several other languages. His travelogue about Italy and Spain is less well known but it is still an interesting source of information for today’s readers. Beginning in 1706, Labat stayed in Italy for several years, and what he wrote about the Camposanto reflects his scientific interest. Unlike other authors, he not only mentions the legend of the holy earth, but also examines the legend in detail, which makes it an interesting source to examine in researching the Camposanto. According to him, the secret component of the holy earth was quicklime (chaux vive), with the property of consuming a body quickly. / DJ

Labat, Voyages_02

Source: Jean-Baptiste Labat, Voyages du P. Labat de l’Ordre des FF. Prescheurs, en Espagne et en Itali, 5 vols. (Paris: Delespine, 1730), 2:166-168.

Transcription

“Le Cimetiere de toute la Ville est au bout de l’Eglise, on l’appelle le Campo-Santo, comme dans tout le reste de l’Italie. C’est un tres grand terrein quarré, environné de Portiques comme un Cloître soutenu de colonnes de marbre, couvert de plomb et dont les murs sont peints à fresque par d’habiles Peintres. On voit dans ces Cloîtres étant dehors dedans le preau, où l’on enterre les corps des morts quantité d’Epitaphes, d’Inscriptions & de Tombeaux et autres antiquités dont on pourroit faire un Livre. On prétend que cinquante Galeres de Pise qui étoient allées au secours de l’Empereur Frideric Barberousse à la Terre-Sainte, se lestérent et se chargerent de la terre de Jerusalem à leur retour et que cette terre qui fut mise dans le preau du Campo-Santo avoit la proprieté de consumer entierement en 24. heures les corps qu’on y mettoit. Je n’ai garde de revoquer en doute que les Galeres de Pise se soient chargées de terre, trop de gens le disent et d’ailleurs, il ne faut pas affliger par une critique, peut-être très-juste, une Ville qui est depuis plusieurs siecles dans l’affliction. Apparemment que les gens de ces tems avoient des dévotions qui ne sont plus à la mode ajourd’hui, ou qu’ils ne trouverent rien de meilleur pour chargeur leurs bâtimens. Mais ce n’est pas cette terre Sainte qui avoit la proprieté de consommer les corps, qui ne l’a plus à present et à qui on la pourroit rendre si on vouloit. C’est la quantité de chaux vive qu’on mêla avec cette terre. Elle a produit très-necessairement cet effet et l’à produit toûjours de même façon tant che la chaux a conservée les principes de son action mais à mesure qu’ils se sont affoiblis, diminués et enfin aneantis, elle a aussi dû diminuer son operacion et à la fin elle n’a pas eu plus de force sur les corps que les terres ordinaires. Il n’y a qu’à mettre de nouvelle, chaux bien faite et de bonne qualité, comme celle de marbre & de cailloux et de le Cimetiere de Pise consumera de’nouveau les corps en 24-heures. Mais à quoi bon une dépense si inutile. Le Campo-Santo est très-grand, la Ville est encore très-mal peuplée et quand ses abitans mourroient dans le cours d’une année, on trouveroit de la place de reste pour les enterrer.”

Translation

The cemetery of the whole city is at the end of the church and is called the Campo-Santo, as in all the rest of Italy. It is a very large square piece of land, surrounded by porticoes like a cloister, supported by marble columns, covered with lead, and the walls are painted in fresco by skilled painters. Outside of these cloisters is the courtyard in which one buries the bodies of the dead. There is a great number of epitaphs, inscriptions and tombs and other antiquities about which one could write a book. It is said that fifty galleys from Pisa, which went to aid Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the Holy Land, brought the earth of Jerusalem on their return, and that this earth, which was placed in the courtyard of the Campo Santo, had the property of consuming the bodies that were placed there in twenty-four hours. I am careful not to call into question whether the galleys of Pisa were loaded with earth; too many people say so, and besides, one should not afflict with a criticism, possibly a very fair one, a city that has been in affliction for several centuries. Apparently, the people of those times had devotions that are no longer in fashion today, or they could not find anything better to load their buildings with. But it is not this holy earth that had the property of consuming the bodies, which it no longer has at present, and to which it could be returned if wanted. It is the quantity of quicklime that was mixed with this earth. It produced this effect very recently and has always produced it in the same way as long as the lime has retained the principles of its action, but as this has been weakened, diminished and finally annihilated, the effect is also diminished, and, in the end, it had no more force on the bodies than ordinary earth. The only way is to put new, well-made, good quality lime like that of marble and pebbles, and the cemetery of Pisa will consume the bodies again in twenty-four hours. But what good is such a useless expense. The Campo Santo is very large, the city is still very poorly populated and when its inhabitants die in the course of a year, there will be room left over to bury them.