TOMBS AND MONUMENTS

The tomb for Cardinal de Brave was created by Arnolfo di Cambio, a pupil of Nicola Pisano and collaborator of his son Giovanni, for the Church of San Domenico in Orvieto in 1282. Even in a reconstructed state, this work is obviously that of a sculptor, marking the rising social standing of artists. It also proves the importance that this micro-architecture - as seen in the tabernacle of the church of San Paolo Fuori le Mura in Rome — was beginning to take on in the development of contemporary architectural language. Simplicity and geometric order were adopted in the plans for Santa Maria del Fiore (1296) and the Palazzo Vecchio (1299). Arnolfo's compositions also initiated the rising interest for funerary monuments as patronage commemoration, set in elaborate architectural relief compositions that supplanted the more conventional insets. Among the most important 13th-century examples are the arcosolia (wall tombs) in Salamanca Cathedral, where architecture, sculpture, and painting join together to express the theme of a celestial Jerusalem.

Tomb of Abbot Cotta,
Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, 1267.

 

ARNOLFO  DI CAMBIO

Florentine sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio (1245-1302) was greatly inspired by the heroic classical style of Nicola Pisano, who he assisted as a young man. His work also shows an awareness of the French Gothic linear values. Among the many buildings in Florence attributed to him are Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. He was master mason of the new cathedral of Florence, begun in 1296.
 

Arnolfo di Cambio (1245-1302)
Madonna and Child, 1296-1302, marble.
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence.