In the heart of Arquà Petrarca, right in front of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, stands the monumental Tomb of Francesco Petrarca, a tomb in red Verona marble, commissioned by his son-in-law Francescuolo da Brossano to honor the poet's wishes. The Classical ark, inspired by Roman sarcophagi and the Tomb of Antenor in Padua, is distinguished by its simple but solemn form: an urn supported by four columns and surmounted by a small statue of the poet's face, a copy of the original that is now in the house museum, with the mark of a hole in the forehead caused by an Austrian bayonet that had used the statue as a target.
The epigraph and the symbolic meaning of the tomb
An epigraph in Latin, attributed to Petrarch himself, is engraved on the front of the urn, which reads:"Frigida Francisci lapis hic tegit ossa Petrarcae,
suscipe, Virgo parens, animam; sate Virgine, parce."
The translation is: "This cold stone guards the bones of Francesco Petrarca. Gather it, Virgin Mother; and Thou, born of the Virgin, have mercy on him."
The choice of an ark elevated above the ground level, typical of the burials of illustrious figures, reflects the deep admiration that the town of Arquà had for the poet. Over the centuries, the tomb became a pilgrimage destination for literati and admirers, strengthening the link between Petrarch and the Euganean territory.
The theft of the skull and the mystery of the remains
In 2003, during a reconnaissance of the remains to check their state of preservation, a puzzling discovery was made: the poet's skull had been replaced with that of a woman who lived in the XIII century. There is no certainty about the end of the original skull, which was broken into three pieces during the opening of the tomb in 1873.Back in 1630, Friar Tommaso Martinelli from Portogruaro, commissioned a theft: he went to the tomb and with the help of some tools forced it open to the point of extracting some bones that turned out to be those of the right arm. The appraisals that followed the incident did not improve the situation: in fact, it seems that during the inspections, other parts of the body were stolen by the same appraisers.
In 1843, historian and epigraphist Carlo Leoni financed a restoration of the sarcophagus. Thirty years later, he wrote a letter to the anatomist Giovanni Canestrini in which he specified that "that when on the morning of May 24, 1843, the tomb was opened, I alone took in my hand the beautiful, ample skull, and showed it to the crowd, though devoid of the chin that the shock of the 1630 theft [had dislocated], when the entire right arm was extracted. The skull was very well preserved, and gave no hint of dislocation, So much so that having lightly struck it with the knuckle of my index finger it responded with the sound of the most perfect adhesion of its parts."
In 1873 it was Giovanni Canestrini who had it reopened intrigued by his colleague's description. The skull, unfortunately, seems to have crumbled on contact with the air, although on this occasion 55 anthropometric measurements were taken, which gave Canestrini's students the opportunity to make a cast that is now in the Museum of Nature and Man in Padua.
An eternal symbol of Petrarch and the village of Arquà
Despite the mystery surrounding the fate of the remains, Petrarch's Tomb continues to be one of Arquà's most iconic sites. Here the poet, who had loved the town and the Euganean Hills so much, rests (at least in part), leaving behind not only his literary legacy, but also an enigma that still fascinates scholars and visitors.Findings
