Page - 171 - in Der Arkadenhof der Universität Wien und die Tradition der Gelehrtenmemoria in Europa

carved one of the first representations of the pro- fessor teaching his students. This scene, charac- terized by a strong proportional contrast between teacher and pupils that emphasizes once more the former’s predominant social role, evolves soon into a frontal representation with the pro- fessor seated on his cathedra in the middle of the sarcophagus’ front and at his sides the pupils sitting at their desks and listening to his words. Princely dressed in his long robe and toque, the scholar dominates the viewer; he is framed by the architectural structure of the cathedra, symbol of his knowledge and prestige, on which stands open a huge book. The pupils gather at his sides, some of them sit at their desks as before, but now the classroom is so crowded that some have to stand against the wall in the background. The love for description, a special feature of Gothic style and especially of Bolognese painting in the second half of the fourteenth century, takes the lead and depicts characters, attitudes and cloth- ing in a very lively and detailed way. A good ex- ample of this stage is the arca of the jurist Gio- vanni d’Andrea in the Museo Civico Medievale of Bologna and originally in the Church of San Domenico (Fig. 3).4 In the sixteenth century, the building of the palace of the Archiginnasio as an official seat for the University succeeded in unifying under one roof the schools which up to that date were scat- tered in different places, and granted the papal government a stricter control over their work.5 In the same years the distinction between fu- neral monument and memorial becomes clear- er. The Archiginnasio is entirely decorated with memorials dedicated to professors and students of Bologna University, while the habit of bury- ing in churches still produced a small number of elegant Renaissance funeral monuments. The memorials erected in the arcades of the upper and lower courtyards and in the classrooms of the Archiginnasio are characterized by their size (Fig. 4). They often extend to the whole wall and are generally painted, or at least they are a com- Fig. 3: Jacopo Lanfran, Bologna, Arca di Giovanni d’Andrea, Museo Civico Medievale, ca. 1348. Fig. 4: Bologna, Archiginnasio, Aula 6 dei Legisti, eastern wall. To Fame and Glory 171 4 The famous professor of canon law Giovanni d’Andrea Calderini was also secretary for several popes. He died in Bologna during the 1348 black death epidemic. About his arca, its attribution history and historical notes see Grandi, I monumenti (cit. n. 2), pp. 163–167. 5 About the history and decoration of the Archiginnasio see L’Archiginnasio: il Palazzo, l’Università, la Biblioteca, Bologna 1987; Biblioteca Comunale dell’Archiginnasio (ed. P. Bellettini), Firenze 2001.