Architecture, Death and Nationhood: Monumental Cemeteries of Nineteenth-Century Italy

Focusing on nineteenth-century Italy, this book traces the emergence of the monumental cemetery as a new architectural type. It demonstrates how a period of significant social and political change that was marked by rise of the bourgeoisie, the struggle for independence, and the establishment of a unified Italy, spurred the construction of cemeteries that were remarkable in terms of their size and grandeur. As microcosms of an emerging social and political order, the new cemeteries mirrored the evolution of Italian society and the fragmented nature of Italian nationhood. They expressed both tensions between Church and state, and efforts to construct a national identity through a shared memory of the dead. As the first comprehensive account of Italy’s monumental cemeteries, the book exposes their significance as monuments to the narratives and memories that defined Italy as a nation. The book also constitutes an attempt to demonstrate how architecture is shaped by social and political forces, and how it acts as a vehicle for the expression of those forces.