Diana Norman

A place of pilgrimage: a proposal for the original location of the Arca of Saint Cerbone

This article addresses the history of the early fourteenth-century reliquary tomb, sculpted by the Sienese sculptor Goro di Gregorio and containing the relics of the Early Christian Saint Cerbone, patron saint of Massa Marittima in southern Tuscany. On the basis of surviving textual and visual evidence both of the tomb itself and the building in which it is presently situated, the article further proposes that the original location for the venerated shrine was in the left hand aisle of the cathedral of Massa Marittima. The article then demonstrates how such a situation would have complemented the design and sculpted programme of the tomb and enabled the Arca of Saint Cerbone to function as a powerful devotional site both for the citizens of Massa Marittima and visiting pilgrims on their way to Rome.