Introduzione

Queste pagine mostranobrevemente l'evoluzione delle Tombe dei Papi dal XIII secolo al XIX. In molti casi è difficile ottenere delle buone foto senza un equipaggiamento professionale, ecco perché spesso saranno mostrati solo dei dettagli.
In molti casi i monumenti non sono il luogo dell'effettiva collocazione della salma del papa, andata perduta o conservata altrove.
I cuori e le altre parti interne (praecordia) sono conservat nella chiesa dei SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio.
Il luogo di sepoltura di alcuni papi medievali fu scoperto durante il restauro di S. Giovanni in Laterano, di S. Maria Maggiore e di altre chiese: questo portò alla costruzione di monumenti Rinascimentali o Barocchi loro dedicati. Un esempio è il Monumento di Sergio IV (1009-12) disegnato da Francesco Borromini in S. Giovanni in Laterano e decorato con i simboli araldici (sei monti e una stella) di Alessandro VII (1655-67). Di questi monumenti non si parla in queste pagine. Alcuni monumenti furono progettati anche se non realmente completati mentre il papa era in vita (Bonifacio VIII, Giulio II, Sisto V, Paolo V, Urbano VIII, Clemente IX sono tra i papi che si preoccuparono del proprio monumento funebre); altri monumenti furono commissionati dal Cardinal Nepote (cioè un nipote del papa che lo assisteva nel governo dello Stato della Chiesa) subito dopo la morte del papa. In alcuni casi infine il monumento fu disegnato molti anni dopo la morte del papa. Pertanto, se quasi sempre vi è stretta correlazione tra la morte del papa e la realizzazione del suo monumento funebre, vi sono tuttavia eccezioni notevoli, ed è per questo che nella pagina iniziale i monumenti sono ordinati cronologicamente.
Molti monumenti sono in San Pietro, ma non tutti: quando la vecchia basilica fu demolita alla fine del XVI secolo furono spostati in altre chiese di Roma; altri furono collocati altrove perché il papa aveva un affetto particolare per una chiesa. In conclusione, ci sono più di dieci chiese che ospitano monumenti funebri di papi.

During the first millennium A. D. the role of the pope was almost entirely confined to religious matters and although he had a significant role in the political life of Rome and took decisions such as building walls and castles there is no evidence of monuments to the popes. The first pope who deemed necessary to emphasize his role by means of a monument was Anastasius IV (1153-54) who wanted to be buried in a large IVth century porphyry Roman sarcophagus, found in the Ruins of Sepolcro di S. Elena and moved by him to S. Giovanni in Laterano (now in the Vatican Museums).

His example was followed by other popes. When the monuments to the popes developed a more complex structure, the use of a Roman sarcophagus was not totally abandoned, but it was restricted to the popes who had been in office only for a matter of days and whose relatives did not have the financial means to erect a monument. During the Renaissance many Roman sarcophagi were recovered and this led to an ample choice of sarcophagi with a suitable (non pagan) decoration.

Gisants

The first monument to the pope which was not just the assemblage of Roman sarcophagi followed a Gothic pattern (the Pope - Clemens IV (1265-68) - was French) and it consisted in a statue of the pope lying down on a sarcophagus under a Gothic arch. These monuments are called gisant which means in French Statue d'un personnage couché. The gisant pattern was soon embellished with mosaic decorations made of the various marbles and stones which were largely available in Rome.

Many gisant monuments were erected in S. Pietro Vecchio and were moved to other churches when the old basilica was pulled down (the Monument to Honorius IV shown in the image here above was moved to S. Maria in Aracoeli in 1545). Other monuments were completely lost or only the statue of the pope was saved. The statue of Bonifatius VIII (1294-1303) is of particular interest because the pope himself decided to be portrayed as a (relatively) young man and with the papal insignia (in particular the elaborated crown). The statue of Nicholas V (1447-55) is slightly turned to the left to improve its visibility.

Some deviations from the gisant pattern were experimented in the XVth century in part because of the great development in the use of bronze which had occurred in Florence with Lorenzo Ghiberti. The Monument to Martinus V (1417-31) by the Florentine sculptor Simone di Giovanni Ghini in S. Giovanni in Laterano is made of a large bronze plate which renovated the tradition of the medieval marble plates used in the churches to indicate where the rich were buried. The Monuments to Pius II (1458-64) and to his nephew Pius III (1503), previously in S. Pietro Vecchio and moved to S. Andrea della Valle in 1614, both show the statue of the pope framed in a complex decoration which includes other statues and reliefs.

XVIth Century Developments

In the XVIth century the monuments to the popes abandoned the gisant posture and showed the pope seated on his throne in the act of blessing. A change was introduced in the Monuments to Sixtus V (1585-90) and Paulus V (1605-21) who preferred to be portrayed in the act of praying on their knees (they both were alive when the monuments were completed and this explains why they preferred a humble posture). The statue of the pope was usually located in a niche at the center of a complex structure resembling a triumphal arch and decorated with other statues and reliefs. The four Monuments to the popes in Cappella Sistina (Pius V and Sixtus V) and in Cappella Paolina (Clemens VIII and Paulus V) in Santa Maria Maggiore show the final (and very expensive) development of the Renaissance pattern of monument.

Monumento a Clemente VIII (1592-1605) progettato da Flaminio Ponzio (1611) in S. Maria Maggiore