THE GRAVES OF SCALIGERI FAMILY

Verona and its Arche Scaligere

One of the characteristic monuments in Verona, merit of the architecture and the Gothic sculpture, is the Arche Scaligere, that are risen imposing along the street of S. Maria Antica. It is a sort of small cemetery deprived in which they find place, in the middle of the coats of arms of the Scala, by now symbol of the city, the burials of the scaliger descent: inside the enclosure in beaten iron, there are the graves of Mastino II and of Cansignorio, while on a broadside of the church of S. Maria Antica it overhangs the grave of Cangrande I.

Cangrande Arca.

Great commander and conqueror of Vicenza, Treviso and Padova, Cangrande I of the Scala is also known to have been a great patron. His court, famous in Europe, it was the point of meeting of the deriving artists from every place. It died in 1329 and his bare were deposed in the sepulchral structure that we see today, ornate of sculptures that celebrate his triumphs and surmounted by a pyramid canopy with above the statue of the same Cangrande on a horse, copy of the original one guarded in Castelvecchio.

Mastino Arca II

Built between 1340 and 1350, the grave is held up on four columns with the embossed graven sarcophagus that brings the effigy of the dead one and it is placed side by side by four angels.
To completion of the work, we find once more the pyramid canopy perfectly engraved with statues and representations of religious theme. Aloft, the statue of Mastino II on a horse, almost to want to underline the separation of the dead one from the terrestrial life.