This fragment of a funerary monument is a fascinating, intense and modern work of art. It represents the most original and free European sculpture of the fourteenth century and was commissioned to Giovanni Pisano, the most important sculptor of the time, by Emperor Henry VII as a tribute to his beloved wife Margherita of Brabant who died in Genoa at the age of 36 on the night of 13th December 1311 and was immediately venerated as a saint. Very little is known about the original monument which was located in the church of San Francesco di Castelletto, the church was demolished together with its monastery in the early 19th century. The monument was certainly impressive, innovative and touching but unfortunately little remains. From these ones it is clear that a new concept was developed: the queen is taken to heaven with an intense look of hope that is unprecedented in art and refers to the lines of Dante's Divine Comedy. Body and soul are joined immediately after death, as befits the saint and queen, opening her smiling mouth as if returning to breathe, she looks up full of hope in God.

Loans

Prague, National Galerie in Prag / Wallenstein Reiterschule
from 15/05/2016 to 25/09/2016

Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum
from 20/10/2016 to 5/03/2017
For the exhibition "Kaiser Karl IV. 1316 - 2016"