Arche Scaligere Historical Timeline

Origins

Santa Maria Antica was the Scaligeri's parish church, and burying the family at its door was a deliberate claim: not inside with the clergy, but outside, visible from the street, where the city passed.

Turning points

Cangrande I, the most capable of the dynasty and Dante's protector during his exile, died in 1329. His tomb was placed over the church's side door, with his equestrian statue above it.

Influential people

Mastino II (died 1351) and Cansignorio (died 1375) commissioned the two great free-standing canopied tombs, the second of them from Bonino da Campione and the most elaborate of the group.

Cultural evolution

The Scaligeri fell in 1387 and Verona passed to Milan and then Venice, so the tombs mark a dynasty that lasted about a century.

Present-day significance

Cangrande's original equestrian statue was removed to Castelvecchio for conservation and a copy stands in its place. His tomb was opened in 2004, and the body examined -- the analysis found lethal levels of digitalis, consistent with the poisoning his contemporaries suspected.