This round frame formed part of a tomb set in the floor of San Pietro delle Monache Benedettine in Padua. The names of the deceased, Antonio and Catharina Maggi da Bassano, a celebrated jurist and his wife are inscribed on the imitation pavement in the upper loop of the frame. It is difficult to determine the original location of the tomb, but it appears from Salamonio’s description that it was near the high altar. The tomb’s original placement near the high altar, its size and the elaborate inscription demonstrate the prestige of Antonio Maggi as the alderman of various towns in the Veneto, all listed on the inscription.

In commissioning this unusual round marker, the lawyer Antonio Maggi da Bassano departed from the typical rectangular tomb slab. The books, serpent, parchment rolls and inkwell are symbols of the scholar, while the hourglass and candlesnuffer remind us of fleeting time and are symbols of mortality. The peach with one leaf was an attribute of Truth and the pine cone symbolised Virtue. The blank space in the middle may once have held an engraved brass panel that gave access to the tomb.

Gallery location:
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 50a, The Paul and Jill Ruddock Gallery, case FS, shelf FLOOR

Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London