Beneath Masaccio's fresco of the Trinity painted in 1425-28 in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, is a painted representation of a cadaver tomb. Masaccio (born Tommaso Cassai or in some accounts Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Mone; December 21, 1401 &ndash autumn 1428 was the first great Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy situated just across the main railway station which shares its name

A cadaver tomb (or "memento mori tomb", Latin for "reminder of death") is a church monument or tomb featuring an effigy in the form of a decomposing body. Memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be translated as "Remember that you are mortal" "Remember you will die" "Remember that you must For the New York prison see The Tombs. A Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. A church monument is an architectural or sculptural Memorial to a dead person or persons located within a Christian church For the New York prison see The Tombs. A Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. An effigy is a representation of a person especially in the form of Sculpture. With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual

This often resembles a carved stone bunk-bed displaying a person as they were before death or soon after their death on the top level (life-sized and sometimes kneeling in prayer) and as a rotting cadaver on the bottom level, often shrouded and sometimes complete with worms and other flesh eating wildlife.

The term can also be used for a monument that shows only the cadaver without the live person. The sculpture is intended as an allegory of how transient earthly glory is, since it depicts what we all finally become. A depiction of a rotting cadaver in art (as opposed to a skeleton) is called a transi. In Biology, the skeleton is a strong and often a rigid framework that supports the body of an animal holding it upright and giving it shape and strength (Also skeletal A classic exemple is the "Transi de René de Chalons" by Ligier Richier, in the St Etienne in Bar-le-Duc, France. Bar-le-Duc is a town in northeastern France, in the Meuse département, of which it is the Préfecture (capital [1]

Beginning in the second half of the 14th century, cadaver tombs were a departure, in monumental architecture, from the usual practice of showing merely an effigy of the person as they were in life.

These tombs were made only for high-ranking nobles, usually royalty or bishops or abbots, because one had to be rich to afford to have one made, and powerful enough to be allotted space for one in a church. The tombs for royalty were often double tombs, for both a king and queen. Some of the finest examples are those of the French kings in Basilica of St. Denis just outside Paris. The Basilica of Saint Denis ( French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the burial site of almost all the French Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

Although many countries in Europe parallelled each other in development throughout Medieval History, they seldom reached their goals the same way or for the same purpose. It is likely that the evolution of the cadaver effigy was slightly different in each country.

England

Cadaver monuments can be seen in many English cathedrals and some parish churches. This article is about the history and organisation of the cathedral A parish is a Local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in episcopal or presbyterian churches The earliest surviving one is in Lincoln Cathedral in Lincolnshire. Lincoln Cathedral (in full The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, or sometimes St Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. It is to Bishop Richard Fleming who founded Lincoln College, Oxford and died in 1431. Richard Fleming (born around 1360 died 25 January or 26 January 1431 in Sleaford Castle) Bishop of Lincoln, and founder of Lincoln College Oxford Lincoln College (in full The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford Canterbury Cathedral houses the well-known cadaver monument to Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury (1414 - 1443). Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a Henry Chicheley (also Checheley or Chichele) (c 1364 &ndash 12 April 1443 English archbishop, founder of All Souls College Oxford, was born The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the

The monument prepared for John Wakeman remains in Tewkesbury Abbey. John Wakeman (died 1549 was the last Abbot of Tewkesbury and first Bishop of Gloucester, both in the English county of Gloucestershire The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church Wakeman was abbot of Tewkesbury from 1531 to 1539. When the abbey was dissolved, he retired, and later became 1st Bishop of Gloucester. The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the formal process between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. He prepared the tomb for himself, with vermin crawling on his carved skeletal corpse, but never used it. He was buried instead, at Forthampton.

Italy

Cadaver monuments and effigies were not limited to the English. They expansed much of Europe and as such, there are monuments in Italian ecclasiastical history, as well.

History

According to data collected in the 19th century on Italian sculptors, the concept of the cadaver monument began with the concept of a place for the soul to rest, or rather, to live. As time passed and the concept of the resurrection evolved, the tomb became thought of as a place for the deceased to merely sleep, "a bed for the sleeper. . . the idea of the sleeper in his bed being kept up in effigy by the reclining figure on the lid. "

By the time monuments were being built by famous Medieval and Renaissance sculptors, "the sarcophagus and bed remained, but the idea of a heavenly canopy and angels was added above (conceived originally by Arnolfo di Cambio with the tomb of Cardinal de Braye at Orvieto^[1]), while the story of the life of the deceased was depicted on the tomb. Arnolfo di Cambio (c 1240 &ndash 1300/1310 was an Italian Architect and sculptor. . . It is only the Chrisitan, who believes in the resurrection, that places the canopy and powers of heaven above his dead. "^[2]

The Monuments

Cadaver monuments are prevalent throughout Italian churches. The famous Andrea Bregno sculpted a few of them, including those of a Cardinal Alano in San Prassede, Ludovico Cardinal d'Albert at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, and Bishop John De Coca at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva, a basilican church in Rome, Italy. Andrea di Cristoforo Bregno ( Osteno, near Como 1418 &ndash Rome 1506 was a Lombard sculptor and architect of the Early Renaissance who worked in Santa Maria sopra Minerva is a Basilica church in Rome. The church located in the Campus Martius region is considered the only Gothic ^[3]

Three other monuments are those of Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta (Matthew of Acquaspa) at the Santa Maria in Aracoeli,^[4] the tomb of Bishop Gonsalvi (1298) and that of Cardinal Gonsalvo (1299) (both located at the Basillica of Santa Maria Maggoire), all sculpted by Giovanni de Cosma,^[5], the youngest of the Cosmati family lineage. Santa Maria in Aracoeli (" St Mary of the Altar of Heaven " is a titular Basilica church in Rome, located on The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (its Italian name known in English also as St Mary Major, is an ancient Catholic Basilica of Rome This article is about the Cosmati family. For details of the style see Cosmatesque. This article is about the Cosmati family. For details of the style see Cosmatesque.

Saint Peter's Basillica contains yet another monument, the tomb of Pope Innocent III. Pope Innocent III ( February 22, 1161 &ndash June 16, 1216) born Lotario de' Conti di Segni, was Pope from January ^[6] It was scuplted by Giovanni Pisano. ^[7]

France

France also has a history of cadaver tombs, though not as extensively as England or Italy.

Germany

Germany is known to contain a few cadaver monuments. There is evidence to suggest, when looking through various German effigy images, that cadaver monuments may have served a different purpose and were a slightly different kind of structure than the those of the churches in England and Italy. A cemetery effigy for a Peter Louis Ravené in Berlin, Germany, is similar to those monuments described herein, although different in location and in some ways, style. ^[8] Historically, poorer or less important individuals would be entombed outside the church, rather than inside, which was reserved for Saints, Popes, rich nobles, and anyone else who could afford it or who was of great social importance.

Another German cadaver monument is, rather late historically, of Johann von der Leiter of Bayern, Germany. ^[9]

References and Further Reading

Related Wiki

Basilique Saint-Denis, see image of the Tomb of Dagobert. The Basilica of Saint Denis ( French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the burial site of almost all the French
Memento Mori

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