Tomb of Cardinal Philip of Alençon
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Giovanni d'Ambrogio, attributed to
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Keyword
Funerary monument , Tomb , Cardinal , Pope Urban V , Pope Boniface VIII
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Abstract
In the Chapel of the Sacred Heart in Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome is the tomb of Cardinal Philip of Alençon (1339–1397), attributed to the Florentine sculptor Giovanni d'Ambrogio (1382–1418). The tomb has been located here since 1584, when, under the direction of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps (1533–1595), it was separated from a larger memorial dedicated to Alençon. Originally, both the tomb and the central monument were part of a unified structure within the church. The current configuration includes the effigy of Cardinal Alençon, the relief of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and the epitaph, all reassembled into a new frame during the 1584 renovations overseen by the architect Martino Longhi the Elder (1534–1591). For visual balance, the tomb of Cardinal Pietro Stefaneschi was added to the right of the altar.
Upon his death, Cardinal Alençon became a venerated figure, with contemporary accounts stating that “prayers and requests in the Church of Rome where his body lies have given succor and aid to many people.” Named Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere by Pope Urban VI (reigned 1378–1389) in 1379, Alençon chose his titular church as his final resting place. His executors, tasked with designing the tomb, commissioned sculptors from the Florence cathedral workshop to create a funerary monument modelled after the early fourteenth-century chapel of Pope Boniface VIII (reigned 1294–1303) in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The epitaph highlights Alençon’s royal lineage, his last role as Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, his virtue, and his death on the feast day of the Virgin Mary (August 15). The carved relief of the Dormition of the Virgin, now positioned below the bier, underscores this connection, with the Cardinal himself depicted in the relief. Cardinal Alençon is shown wearing a bishop’s mitre, and his virtue is symbolized by his placement at the foot of the Virgin’s throne in the relief. The fleur-de-lis, a nod to his royal heritage, decorates his collar, cope, and the cloth of honour behind the Virgin in the relief. His shield is prominently inlaid above the monument, and traces of red polychromy remain visible.
Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
Description
Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome
Citation
Dale Kinney, “Managed Memory in S. Maria in Trastevere,” in Monuments & memory : Christian cult buildings and constructions of the past : essays in honour of Sible de Blaauw, ed. Mariëtte Verhoeven et al. (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2016); Skip Conde, “Santa Maria in Trastevere,” Churches of Rome, http://www.churches-of-rome.info/CoR_Info/SMT%20009/009-Santa%20Maria%20in%20Trastevere.pdf.