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Alan K | all galleries >> Italia (Italy) >> Il Veneto E Venezia (The Veneto and Venice), Aug 2016 >> 2016 Day 07 Part 2: Verona, A Lunchtime Stop (Fri 26 Aug 2016) > 160826_130543_0762 Requiem For The Big Dog
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26-Aug-2016 AKMC

160826_130543_0762 Requiem For The Big Dog

Verona, Veneto, Italia

No, not Lilly The Malchi, she's still alive. For the moment. In any case today she was more "naughty" than "big".

I refer instead to Can Francesco della Scala (1291-1329), abbreviated to Cangrande, or Cangrande I. (The name is a contraction of Cane Grande, or Big Dog, in Italian though his birth name may well have been a pun itself based on the name of his uncle Mastino (Mastiff).) A member of the della Scala family that ruled Verona in the late 1200's to 1300's, he was probably the most famous and certainly one of the most energetic members of the family, engaging tirelessly in both military and diplomatic campaigns (not to mention being a patron of the rather more famous Dante) before dying (possibly / probably of poisoning) at the ripe old age of 38.

Fame in the Medieval era is a relative thing, of course. I had not previously heard of the della Scala family and only understood the significance of these tombs after my visit. And let us be brutally honest, it ruled only one middling sized city and a few surrounding ones (on and off) for only about a century, which does indeed seem like a long time but first, it's just one lifetime (for an increasing number of people; few made it to a century back then of course) and second, six times that period has elapsed since then. The Big Dog was a very large fish in a relatively small pond. It says something about the Italian concept of "family" (which extends to the township, then to the region, and only then to the country) that an extensive array of tombs has been maintained for so long. Of course his life and actions did have wider repercussions through Italia in terms of the conflict between the Guelphs (supporters of the Pope) and the Ghibellines (supporters of the Holy (he wasn't) Roman (not that either) Emperor (not so much, no)) of which Cangrande was one of the leaders.

The Big Dog was buried in an impressive marble sarcophagus over the door of the church, as we see here. A large equestrian statue of Cangrande can be seen at the top. The effigy on the sarcophagus is smiling. And indeed he was reputed to be jovial and friendly... except when things went badly when his temper could become thunderous.

In 2004 his body was exhumed (it had become mummified and was in decent condition), and an autopsy suggested death by digitalis, a very Agatha Christie poison.


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