Page - 169 - in Der Arkadenhof der Universität Wien und die Tradition der Gelehrtenmemoria in Europa

TO FAME AND GLORY: BOLOGNA MUNICIPAL CEMETERY AND ITS PANTHEON. ABOUT THE PERSISTENCE OF THE TRADITION OF CELEBRATING GREAT MEN Antonella Mampieri In 1886, when Luigi Serra (Bologna, 1846–1888) painted the great plafond depicting Irnerius, his mind must have been full with the rumours, pro- jects and ideas for the solemn celebration of the eighth centenary of the University foundation that took place in 1888 (Fig. 1).1 The large paint- ing bears all the symbols of scholarship and em- bodies the values of Bologna University at the end of the nineteenth century. The mythical first professor of the local school of law, Irnerius, is depicted by Serra seated upon his cathedra, writ- ing his notes in a huge codex. Serra combines here the realistic style fashionable at the end of the nineteenth century (the man bent over his book pensively considering the text, the books gathered around him in an untidy mass express- ing his hard intellectual work, the clothes care- fully studied on costume repertoires and the Roman-Cosmatesque gold decoration encrust- ing the steps and throne, the contrast between Gothic and capital fonts on the scroll and on the inscription under Irnerius’ feet) with the sym- bolism creeping into poetry and the arts during Fig. 1: Luigi Serra, Irnerius writing his notes on the Corpus Iuris, 1886, painting, Bologna, City Hall. 1 The painting, originally placed in the middle of the ceiling of the Hall of Honour of the Provincia di Bologna, host- ed at that time in the town hall, is today exhibited on the first floor of the same building. Serra was commisioned for this last and significant work in 1886 and following his usual studio practice, he made a great number of sketches and drawings in order to reach the complex, allegorical result that was going to be enthusiastically celebrated by his contemporaries, especially by the Nobel prize winner poet Giosue Carducci. See A. Zacchi, Temi sacri, storici e allegorici, in: Il Segno e il colore. Nell’atelier di Luigi Serra (exh. cat. Bologna, Galleria d’Arte Moderna), Cinisiello Balsamo 2003, p. 111 and p. 203.