Tomb of Pedro Álvarez de Toledos
The tomb of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo and his wife María Osorio Pimentel is in the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Naples . The monumental tomb rises behind the high altar in the apse area. The original installation site was under the choir dome. It was made by the Neapolitan sculptor Giovanni da Nola and his workshop.
analysis
The monumental tomb for Don Pedro de Toledo and his wife Doña Maria is laid out on a rectangular floor plan . It's about three times as long as it is wide. Because the figures of Don Pedro and his wife kneel in an elevated position and are surrounded by the four, somewhat lower virtues , the tomb approximates a pyramidal shape.
The large sarcophagus rises in the middle of a flat plain . On this, each kneeling at a prayer chair and with prayer books in their hands, there are the figures of the deceased: (seen from the viewer) Don Pedro on the left and his wife on the right. Between these lies a lion's head with a kind of crown on a small base .
The sarcophagus is built like a kind of box altar . Its shape is very reminiscent of a box altar, an altar shape that was often used to store relics . He has an altar substructure ( stipes ) and an altar plate ( mensa ).
Here, in the relief caryatides in the form of grotesque attached to the corners on a with pilasters decorated Fries wear lying plate. In the middle of the front there is an inscription with the title Don Pedro. It is framed on one side by the coat of arms of Don Pedro and on the other that of his wife Doña Maria. On the three other sides there are reliefs depicting the deeds of Don Pedro: on the left the expulsion of the Turks from Apulia, on the right the naval battle in front of Baia against the Moorish pirate Barbossa , while on the back the reception of Charles V by the viceroy at Porta Capuana of Naples (1535).
The sarcophagus is surrounded by life-size personifications of the four worldly cardinal virtues - Iustitia (justice), Prudentia (wisdom), Fortitudo (bravery) and Temperantia (moderation). With their backs to the sarcophagus, they stand at the four corners on pedestals that swing out and up from the lower, flatter base with volutes and a kind of Ionic capital . The base itself is decorated with friezes , garlands and grotesques .
interpretation
The first thing that catches the observer's eye is the structure itself: the four life-size personifications of the virtues that surround the ruling couple on a lower level. Through this elevated position of Don Pedro and his wife in relation to the virtues, two things are conveyed at the same time: On the one hand, the virtues are placed higher than the viewer, which indicates their special importance - on the other hand, Don Pedro and Doña Maria, although they are kneeling, still take Maria a higher position than the virtues.
The four worldly virtues are shown. Wisdom stands for the knowledge “about the relationship of things to one another and to the whole” and thus also shows the maturity and ability of the wise man to make sure judgments and to give good advice. For example, Plato sees the basis for human coexistence in his ethics in justice. The New Testament also speaks of the fact that the Christian who is delivered from sin lives for righteousness. A divine grace is bravery, which in the Bible is understood “not only as human achievement, but ultimately as grace (...) and counted among the gifts of the Holy Spirit”. Moderation is understood as the control and suppression of affects , which the Christian is enabled to do through his spiritual life. All these four virtues now surround the sarcophagus, thus making it clear that Don Pedro and his wife had them. This not only emphasizes his rulership, but also a Christian life. The fact that he and his wife are still above the virtues shows that they lived extremely exemplary and virtuous lives. Yet they kneel. This shows that they were not proud but humble and asked God for grace for their souls . But not only that - this attitude is intended to encourage the viewer or visitor to the church to pray for the deceased.
The figure of Doña Maria is simply dressed and depicted with a veil over her hair with a prayer book and a very idealized face. She is completely absorbed in prayer. But Don Pedro appears in stately clothing, as a general . His face can almost be seen as an exact portrait . While his right hand holds the prayer book open, his left hand is on the sword. This illustrates the connection between faith and the ability to defend themselves. His gaze is turned towards the viewer and expresses authority , pride and self-confidence. It is also noteworthy that both are shown the same size and are therefore on the same level. Don Pedro's importance is expressed solely by his regalia and his stately demeanor. It seems as if Doña Maria modestly withdraws into the background in prayer. This is mainly justified by her gaze directed into the prayer book and the challenging gaze of her husband Don Pedro.
The prayer chairs on which the ruling couple kneels are each provided with two lion claws at the front. A lion's head with a crown lies on a small platform between the kneeling . Because of his strength he is equated with the king . This is emphasized here by the crown on the lion's head. The lion also fights the chaos that threatens the world order and because of its dangerousness it fends off enemies in advance. If the lion's head is placed in the middle of the sarcophagus, then this is intended to represent the institution of the viceroyalty on the one hand and Don Pedro's ruling power on the other. The fact that he is portrayed with his mouth open also highlights his dangerousness. The impression made by Don Pedro through the lion's head is justified by the reliefs on the sides of the sarcophagus depicting Don Pedro's deeds for Naples and the Spanish king.
The strict right-angled structure of the tomb is loosened up by friezes, caryatids and on the lower plinth with garlands of plants and grotesques. The latter in particular create a lively impression. It is increased by the pedestals of the four virtues that soar up out of the plain. The attitude of virtues in counter post also takes up this vibration. This is also emphasized by the small grotesques that are located at the corners of the pedestals of the Virtues. They look like figureheads and also look directly at the viewer. Through them, the movement of the garlands can almost be interpreted as a swell and thus refers to Don Pedro's victory over the Moorish pirate Barbossa. Figureheads should also keep evil away. In this respect, they are supposed to protect the deceased from evil.
It is also noticeable that the sarcophagus is relatively narrow. Don Pedro died in Florence, but it is said that his son had his ashes transported to San Giacomo degli Spagnoli.
The present work by Giovanni da Nola is a tomb. On the one hand, a tomb aims to encourage people to pray for the salvation of the deceased. On the other hand, however, it is supposed to make the earthly fame and the great deeds of the deceased visible. This is especially true when the deceased is a ruler, as here. Already in the Roman Empire (and to represent the higher wealth) the tombs of rulers stood out enormously from those of their subjects. Only very rich people could afford sarcophagi - a behavior that was particularly revived in the Renaissance . In view of the fact that communal graves were common at that time and the dead were buried anonymously, grave inscriptions alone emphasized the importance of the deceased. Even if Don Pedro himself is not buried in “his” sarcophagus, this symbolizes above all his size and power (and that of the viceroyalty) beyond his death. Not only the inscription, but also his physical representation and that of his wife should ensure that he is remembered and that immortality is conferred in this world and in the hereafter.
The shape of the tomb, which was unusual in Italy at the time, with the ruling couple kneeling on the sarcophagus, has its models in France, in the tombs of the French king Charles VIII in Saint-Denis . The latter, like the Toledo tomb, has figures of the cardinal virtues on the corners and reliefs with depictions of victory on the base of the tomb. In the case of the Neapolitan tomb, however, the rulers were not shown again as dead in a half-decomposed state, which was common on French tombs at this time.
Dating
It is difficult to date the tomb exactly. A classification can therefore only be based on the dates of the construction of the church. The church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli was built on the farm of the viceroy. The foundation stone was laid on June 11, 1540. Therefore, the order for the tomb - if it was intended for installation in the church at all - could not have been given before this point in time. In 1550 the tomb must have been essentially completed. However, it was only installed in the apis of San Giacomo around 1570, as the date of the inscription shows.
literature
- Bautier, Robert-Henri (Ed.): Lexicon of the Middle Ages, Volume 8 Stadt (Byz. Reich bis Werl), Munich, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-89659-908-9 .
- Betz, Hans Dieter et al. (Ed.): Religion in past and present: Concise dictionary for theology and religious studies: (F to H). 4th ed., Vol. 3, Tübingen 2000. ISBN 3-16-146903-8 .
- Kasper, Walter (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church (Thomaschristen - Zytomyr), 3rd edition, Vol. 10, Freiburg, Basel, Rome 2001
- Poeschke, Joachim: The sculpture of the Renaissance in Italy, Volume 2. Munich 1992. ISBN 3-7774-5430-3 .
- Vasari, Giorgio / Siebenhüner, Herbert: Artists of the Renaissance: Biographies of the most distinguished Italian builders, painters and sculptors, Leipzig, 1940
- Miccio, Scipione: Vita di Don Pietro di Toledo scritta da Scipione Miccio, Volume 9, Archivico Storico Italiano, 1846
- Natascha Perkaus: The tomb of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli - a Neapolitan prestige project. Master thesis, University of Vienna, 2015.
Web links
- http://www.anm.it/images/ItinerarioTuristico1.PDF (PDF file; 1.89 MB)
- http://www.wga.hu/html_m/m/mariglia/donpedro.html
- http://www.musique-renaissance.com/DaNola.htm
- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11090a.htm
- http://www.campnet.it/aziendaturismo/pozzuoli/articoli2003/ott.2.jpg
