‘See and Understand’: Funerary Monuments, Vision, and Memory in Italy, ca.1300-1530

Abstract

This thesis will study the polyvalent and often contradictory nature of theory and practice for funerary monuments in Italy between ca. 1300 and 1530. The principal focus will be on the juxtaposition of written thought on the agency of tombs with the in-depth analysis of archive-based case studies. As such, this dissertation aims to highlight the complexity of the role of the funerary monument in Italy from the fourteenth through to the sixteenth centuries, while also providing a broader overview of important patterns of thought and practice which influenced the creation of funerary monuments and vice versa.