Tomb of Maria of Durazzo

Abstract

The tomb of Maria of Durazzo, the daughter of King Charles III of Naples and Margarita of Durazzo, sits in its original church, San Lorenzo Maggiore in Naples, though it has been moved within the church. Maria, the first child of the royal pair, died when she was two years old in 1371. Therefore this tomb does not so much celebrate her achievements as attempt to shore up the sense of dynastic grandeur and continuity in a time of much political upheaval. The front of the sarcophagus shows Mary's crowned soul being carried up to heaven by angels, and her effigy (looking much more grown up than her actual tender years) lays on top of the sarcophagus. Below, royal lions support pilasters decorated with mosaics. The mosaics, along with the remnants of a pattern on Mary's soul's dress (perhaps where forms were originally gilded) hint at what must have been a much mroe splendidly decorated surface. The surviving inscription reads: HIC IACET CORPUS ILLUSTRIS PUELLAE DOMINAE MARIAE DE DURACIO FILIAE REGIS, and older sources supply what was originally the rest of the inscription: CAROLI III QUAE OBIT ANNO DOMINI 1371, 4 INDICTIONE.Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License