Youth, Innocence and Death: Some Notes on a Medallion on the Certosa of Pavia

Abstract

he lower part of the fagade of the Carthusian Monastery of Pavia is edged by a broad band of marble, which forms a sort of base to the monument. White marble medallions are set in this reddish stone. Most of them reproduce the obverse or reverse of ancient classical coins, real or imaginary, but one of them-the second on the left, at the corner of the fagade-presents quite an unusual picture (P1. 45a). On piles of stones on either side of the medallion are seated a youth and a child ; the latter, a winged putto holding a little flame in his left hand, rests his right elbow on a skull, near which lies a tibia. Facing him, the young man, naked, in an attitude of despair, hides his face in his hands. Below is written: "innocentia e memoria mortis." This scene is highly mysterious. It presents several problems which we will try to unravel. * * *