Publisher's Synopsis
A history of tomb sculpture which spans the shift of the papacy and college of cardinals from Rome to Avignon. Rather than concentrating on the work of individual sculptors, Professor Gardner discusses the surviving or documented tombs of popes, cardinals and important clerics in Rome and Central Italy from the viewpoint of style, context, funerary custom and testamentary wishes. The transference of the papacy to Avignon brought with it radical changes in the personnel, burial traditions and artistic environment of the papal curia, and Paris, Westminster and Toulouse became points of reference. The effect on Roman sculpture of the absence of the Papacy is considered, together with the problem of sepulchural portraiture. The European resonances of tomb sculpture both in Rome and Avignon are examined.
