The Monumental Cemetary of Staglieno

The Cemetary of Staglieno is not just a monument to the bourgeois culture of the XIX century, but also one of the main examples of funerary sculpture collection of all time, with its thousands of statues, often real works of art. It is an entire city of graves, mausuleums and monuments from all styles and epoques since 1851.

Designed in the early XIX century by one of the most appreciated city’s architects, Carlo Barabino it features hundreds of striking marble sculptures and monuments to the personalities buried here.

The layout of the cemetery recalls the topography of Genoa itself with a labyrinth of paths and stone steps weaving up the hillside amongst towering cypresses and cedars.

Ornately carved chapels and family tombs dot the grounds, and special areas are dedicated to British soldiers, priests and nuns of various religious orders. In the Protestant area you can see, among the others, the tomb of Mary Constance Lloyd, the wife of Oscar Wilde.

Staglieno is as much a sculpture garden as it is a cemetery and worth seeing for that reason alone. It is also quintessentially Italian, almost operatic in its flamboyance. Naturally, statues of Christ abound, some ethereal, some realistic, no two faces alike. At Staglieno there are a large number of partially clothed or entirely nude granite and marble female figures reclining languidly on sarcophagi or embracing tombstones.

Apparently they were intended as surrogate mourners, but to other eyes, at least, they conveyed life-celebrating sensuality.

~ by khamre on July 12, 2008.