How to Read Paintings: The Triumph of Death by Buonamico Buffalmacco
A monumental fresco that explores medieval beliefs in death and the afterlife
The Camposanto in Pisa, Italy, is a fascinating place. Whilst so much attention is given to the famous “Leaning Tower”, only a short distance away is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in all of the world.
The beginnings of the cemetery are auspicious. “Campo Santo” can be literally translated as “holy field” after a shipload of sacred soil from Calvary, or Golgotha — the site of Jesus’ crucifixion — was brought back to Pisa and used as the foundation earth for the cemetery. This symbolic act turned the burial ground into a divine field, with the reputed legend that any body buried in it would dissolve in only twenty-four hours.
The Camposanto is built on a long rectangle surrounded by Gothic cloisters, with archways that lead to a lawned area in the centre. Inside the cloisters, under cover to protect them from the elements, are numerous Italian tombs and Roman sarcophagi from antiquity.
