In Tombs in Early Modern Rome (1400–1600), Jan L. de Jong reveals how funerary monuments, far from simply marking a grave, offered an image of the deceased that was carefully crafted to generate a laudable memory and prompt meditative reflections on life, death, and the hereafter. This leads to such questions as: which image of themselves did cardinals create when they commissioned their own tomb monuments? Why were most popes buried in grandiose tomb monuments that they claimed they did not want? Which memory of their mothers did children create, and what do tombs for children tell about mothers? Were certain couples buried together so as to demonstrate their eternal love, expecting an afterlife in each other’s company?
Contents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction 1 Nos tegimus cineres, spiritus astra tenet: Monuments, Mortal Remains and the Soul 1 Problems Caused by Tombs in Church Buildings 2 Epitaphs: Composing and Carving 3 Functions of Tomb Monuments 4 Beliefs and Convictions 5 Studying Tomb Monuments 2 (Vivens) sibi posuit: Cardinals Planning Their Own Tomb Monument 1 Questions 2 Opulence and Modesty 3 The Role of Inscriptions 4 Pride and Self-Promotion 5 Monuments of Vain Glory? 6 Cardinal Giovanni Ricci 7 Conclusions 3 Qui semper vanos tumuli contempsit honores: Directing the Memory of the Pope 1 Questions 2 The Popes’ Wishes 3 Respectfully Securing the Popes’ Memory 4 Modesty Ignored 5 Conclusions 4 Optima, prudentissima, infelicissima: Mothers and Monuments 1 Questions 2 Tomb Monuments Erected for Mothers 3 Tomb Monuments Erected by Mothers for Their Children 4 Conclusions 5 Concordes et amantissime: Tomb Monuments for Spouses 1 Questions 2 Coniuges viventes fecerunt: Erected by Both Spouses Still Alive 3 Coniugi et sibi: Erected by the Surviving Spouse 4 Suis dulcissimis parentibus: Erected by the Children under Will of Their Parents 5 Conclusions Conclusion Abbreviations of Frequently Mentioned Publications General Bibliography Index
Jan L. de Jong (PhD Leiden University, 1987) is Senior Lecturer of Art History of the Early Modern Period at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands. He has published extensively on early modern Italian art, especially in Rome. His books include The Power and the Glorification: Papal Pretensions and the Art of Propaganda in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Penn State University Press, 2013).
