Secularization and Realistic Turn in Italy: Antonio Fissiraga’s Funerary Monument in Lodi

The paper compares the pseudo-sculptural decoration of the Virgin’s throne depicted at the beginning of the fourteenth century in San Francesco, Rieti and San Francesco, Lodi. It is argued that in Rieti these details represent ministering angles, and they have a theological orientation. In Lodi, however, on the upper part of the funerary monument of Antonio Fissiraga, a representation of St George slaying the dragon can be seen. St George is represented more as a mighty warrior than a saint, especially in contrast to a similar pseudo-sculptural detail from the St John Baptistery in Varese. It appears that in Lodi the decorative details of the Virgin’s throne relate more to the donor, Antonio Fissiraga, signore de Lode, than to the Virgin Mary. In this sense the fresco represents a shift from the theological allusions towards the political ones. Furthermore, the funerary monument of Antonio with its pseudo-sculptural details introduces the sculpted monuments of the signori, exemplified by the monument of Cangrande della Scala in Verona.