Pavia Certosa

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La Certosa di Pavia

History in Preparation

What it looks like from the front - a magnificent monument to the Visconti and Sforza Dukes of Milan (the building on the right was one of their summer palaces).

From the back, what it was theoretically all about - each of the 24 Carthusian hermit monks had their own cottage at the back of the Certosa, where they could get on with closing with God whilst the lay brothers popped the occasional meal into the serving hatch which was built into each cottage.

Small scale bas-relief in the main porch of the church - Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1351 - 1402), the first Duke of Milan, laying the foundation stone of the Certosa on 27 August 1396. This is a copy of the original, which can be seen along with other narrative bas-reliefs in the museum - it's well worth spending time there.

The magnificent nave of the church

Gian Galeazzo, supported by his three sons, presents a model of the church to the Virgin Mary in a fresco above the apse on the South (Visconti and monastery buildings) side of the transept

Tomb of Ludovico Sforza ("The Moor"), 7th Duke of Milan (1452 -1508 (46)), and his wife Beatrice d'Este on the North (Sforza) side of the transept.

One thing to do with hippopotamus teeth and bits of bone - an ivory and bone narrative triptych, with (from left to right) the stories of the Virgin, the Magi and the Prophet Balam. This is the only significant remaining artefact from the original church after a thorough loot by Napoleonic troops at the end of the 1700s. It's about 2 meters wide.

The lavabo for the monks to wash their hands on the way into the refectory - the relief above shows "the episode of the Samaritan to the well" (sic). More attractively, above this is a riveting two panel annunciation (below).

The refectory, which was the church for the first 100 years or so of the Certosa's life. Note the screen wall which separated the monks (who had a cottage each and only came together for Sunday lunch) from the lay brothers (who had a bed in the communal dormitory). This was a universal feature of Certosas and also their much bigger (people wise) Cistercian counterparts - though you won't find any evidence of the Cistercian screens nowadays.

The coat of arms of the Visconti family, showing a snake swallowing a Saracen (Arab). This had been a popular motif for military standards during the crusades of the 1100s and 1200s.

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