The tombstones of the ancient jewish cemetery of the Lido of Venice : history, art, poetry and palaeography ; Les pierres tombales de l'ancien cimetière juif du Lido de Venise : histoire, art, poésie et paléographie

Abstract

The Ancient Cemetery of the Lido in Venice was built in 1386: due to its favorable location just across the lagoon, the cemetery was occasionally used for defensive and military purposes. Many tombstones were lost, destroyed or reused, others were moved to a more internal area of the lagoon, which in 1774 became the official cemetery known as "New Cemetery". Venetian tombstones are artifacts rich in history, poetry and art. Their study allows us not only to rebuild the lives and the fortunes of the community members, but also to detect meaningful aspects of the literary and artistic culture of that time. This work is a catalogue of all the 1240 tombstones incorporated in the "Ancient" cemetery of the Lido. Each gravestone presents an analysis of the architectural style of the tombs as well as the kind of stone used and an assessment of his condition, a description of the coat of arms if engraved on the stone, a paleographic analysis of the writing, a note about the poetic and grammatical features of the text and a historical commentary detailing any relevant information found in the community death records. Transcriptions and translations of the epitaphs from Hebrew to Italian have been also added for 410 tombs. This analysis is supplemented with a detailed study of the history of the cemetery and the Jewish community of Venice, as well as the poetry of epitaphs, the paleography and art. This last topic has been further explored through an architectural analysis of the tombstones and a study on the Hebrew heraldry in light of the emblems engraved on the stones of the Venetian cemetery. ; L'ancien cimetière du Lido de Venise a été construit en 1386. En raison de son emplacement favorable, juste en face de la lagune, le cimetière était parfois utilisé à des fins défensives et militaires. De nombreuses pierres tombales ont été perdues, détruites ou réutilisées, d'autres ont été déplacées vers une zone plus interne de la lagune, qui est devenue en 1774 le cimetière officiel connu sous le nom de «Nouveau cimetière». ...