The Tomb of Antonio De Grassi at Capodistria
Lucio Nalesini
If the search of the identity of the De Grassis and of the Grassis was so important for the compiling of this article, the tomb of Antonio De Grassi was the point out of which the interest for the three Capodistrian brothers sprang out.
Since my childhood, my attention was attracted by this tomb while going to this cemetery, gently stretched on the slope of the San Canziano hill[1]. The local people used to call the monument with the greatest simplicity “the Indian tomb”. We may say that this monument became so a natural presence, that nobody took account of it any longer in spite of its eccentricity. Just a few of them wondered the meaning of those strange towers topped by metallic cusps, or the origin of those elegant and slender stylised architectural elements placed on the gables. When I was a child, someone remembering the erection of the tomb was still alive. Today nobody remember it. The monument is generally accepted, as part of the landscape, car nobody has ever seen the graveyard without it.
Very few people realise that is the sole example of a purely Thai monument built in Europe, and one executed carefully and lovingly in every detail. Whoever has seen the beautiful prangs of Wat Phra Keo, will certainly notice the perfect correspondence with the prangs of the Antonio De Grassi’s tomb. Anyone who has seen Wat Arun, and especially at dawn, can draw a parallel with the arrangement of the prangs of the Capodistria tomb. If anyone has seen the terrifying giant Yaksha with the gnashing teeth defending the gates of Wat Arun, will recognise them in the sculpture of one of the gables. Who is familiar with the Buddha statues that can be seen in plenty around Bangkok and their gestures will soon realise the position of Buddha as portrayed on another gable of the tomb.
The funerary monument of Antonio De Grassi is made by a basement enclosed with a fence. Inside the fence there is a trap door giving access to the crypt where the deceased lies. At the basement’s corners there stand four little stones. They were not placed there at random, nor is their shape casual, because it corresponds perfectly to most classic bai sema. What is a bai sema? It is a little stone usually placed at the four corners and at the mid-side of the sacred area where the Bot or Ubosot (the most sacred building of the Thai temple) stands. These stones can be very simple, or even so complex that a pavilion is needed to guest them. Inside the sacred enclosure nobody, not even the king, can give orders. The tomb of Capodistria has four of them, instead of the eight commonly found in the Thai temples, but their shape is identical[2]. The presence of the bai semas around the monument of De Grassi should be considered just the reproduction of a Thai architectural style element, or as the sign of an exaggerated self-estimation?
On the basement, and inside the space delimited with the four little stones, there is the pedestal in Carrara marble. Four triple pillars stand on its corners, while the statue of the deceased stand in the centre.
The base of each little pillar is decorated with a traditional Thai motive, that is the Nak canson, representing the bow of the Naga. Their shape undoubtedly comes from the leaves wrapping the node of the bamboo cane[3].
Figure 1 Figure 2
In the centre of the pedestal rises the statue of Antonio covered on the four sides by four tombstones, on which one may read:
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South |
West |
North |
East |
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To the memory of Antonio de’ Grassi from Capodistria, who in the love of God and of the Fatherland lived and died MDCCCLXXXVII. |
Antonio, more than in the stone sweet and indelible remains in the chest of your family] your beloved name and your memory |
Your perseverance in the immovable virtue and in the work on the beaches of Siam for long years to come the dearest stone and the art remember |
Your desolate consort Giovanna born Ciampi and the son Aurelio bitterly mourn you ---------------- The brother Gioachino this monument made. |
On this base there stands the herma of Antonio, a moustached gentleman with an imposing appearance. We cannot question the similarity of this statue to the real man, for we didn’t find any picture of him. Only one picture of his brother Gioachino is left, but we cannot see any similarity between the two.
The triple pillars supporting the upper and more characteristic part of the monument are decorated with a scale-motive following the snakeskin.
As we said before the decorations at the base of these pillars represent the bow, the weapon of the Nagas, while the pillars are covered with a scale-motive, because naga is a Sanskrit word meaning “snake”. The Naga is a special snake, for he is a semi-divine snake dwelling underground and watch rich treasures. He is also a symbol of the Ocean. He is to be found in lakes and in the sky, where can cause the rain. In the stormy days appears as a rainbow, a link between the earth and the sky. As such, a couple of Nagas supported the stairs used by Buddha to descend from the heaven. The Naga-King, Muchalinda, opened his seven heads for seven days in order to protect the meditating Buddha.
The Nagas are enemies of Garuda. The motive of the Nagas fighting Garuda is common in Thai art. Moreover, the snakes symbolised the wisdom and the healing. We shall speak again on the Nagas when describing the frontons of the tomb.
On the architraves connecting the four triple pillars one finds the four frontons, two of which deserve a closer look.
The slanting sides of the fronton have a triple cornice[4] moulded in the shape of a Naga (Nak sadung). In Thailand their body is decorated with glazed pottery tiles, while here the scales (Bai raka) are made of marble. At the upper and lower end of the slanting sides representing the Nak sadung, we find three elegant stylised elements normally present on the roofs of the sacred buildings: the chofas.
The thin apex looking as a stylised bird adorning the two ends of the roof are variously translated as “bunch of sky” or “tassel of sky”. It represents the Garuda[5], Vishnu’s vehicle adopted by Buddhism to attract Vishnu believers. His representation by means of a stylised bird head is consistent with the Bangkok or Rattanakosin style. At the finishing of a temple it is used to have a ceremony ending with the placing of the chofas. It is nevertheless difficult to ascertain the precise origin of this decoration.
Southern fronton. A gate of the Wat Phra Keo is surmounted by a prang. Two yakshas, two giants with a cruel face and the sharpened canines stand on the sides of the gate. Lions, snakes and even human beings can watch the entrance of the sacred buildings instead of the yakshas, as is the case of Wat Po. For a western mind it may be difficult to understand why the defence of the sacred places is entrusted to demonic beings, but that’s it.
Eastern fronton. Here we have a Buddha in Bhumisparsamudra, that is Buddha calling the earth to witness on his reasons. Just a moment before moving his right hand to touch the earth, Buddha was meditating under a banyantree[6], holding the hands in his lap with the palm turned up. He was on the point to reach the enlightenment when the gods of the earth warned him about a possible attack by the Demon. His disciples worried and became anxious. The Master tranquillised them saying that he will defeat them using his own strength. When the demon Mara heard this, sent on the earth his three daughters (Trsna, Rati and Raga, i.e. thirst, desire and pleasure) to divert Buddha[7] from his thoughts. But Buddha, leaving his left hand in the lap, just moved the right hand on the right kneel touching the earth with the fingers, so calling for the earth’s attention. The earth rushed to help him and, squeezing the hairs soaked with the water of many offerings, caused an enormous waterfall, which carried off the daughters of Mara.
Inside the space delimited by the frontons there is another pedestal on which stand the five prangs. The four smaller prangs are placed on the corners, while the larger, central one on a stepped base.
What is a prang? The prang is a tower-shaped stone building originated in the Khmer empire (today’s Cambodia), where it was called prasat. In Siam it has slenderer and almost phallic shapes. The original prasat had rectangular foundations, a high basement and a cell surmounted by the tower. This richly decorated tower materialised the link of the sky and the gods with the deceased, who was represented in the cell with a statue or a symbol (e.g. the linga). Because of the syncretism of the Southeast Asian people who received and amalgamated in their believes the aspects of different religions, the tower represents, according to the Buddhist cosmogony, the Mount Meru, that is the abode of the gods, while the other four smaller prangs represent the mountains on the four cardinal points where resides the sun, the moon and the stars.
In Thailand the prasat was built with more elegant shapes and added some features, such as a trident[8] on the summit, and some niches on the upper part of the tower representing the dwelling of the god Indra, often depicted riding the white elephant Erawan. Antonio’s tomb at Capodistria do not lack this niche; it is to be found above the three steps on which one see five, four and three aligned angels’ (Theppanom) statues respectively. They wear coneshaped headgears. The niche is, on its turn, surmounted by small triangular gables decorated, as the lower gables, with the “chofa”. The uppermost part of the monument is certainly unorthodox from a Buddhist viewpoint, but consistent with the cemeterial setting, as it is topped by a Christian cross.
[1] San Canziano is the name of the hill where the cemetery lies since 1811.
[2] See fig. 1.
[3] See fig. 2.
[4] That is made by three superimposed telescope-cornices.
[5] Garuda is a cruel bird represented often with back and human hands. It serves Vishnu as mount. Besides being the stepbrother of the Naga, it is also his harsh enemy. Garuda is often depicted while fighting with the Naga.
[6] Banyan (Ficus benghalensis, or F. indica), unusually shaped tree of the fig genus in the mulberry family (Moraceae) native to tropical Asia. Aerial roots that develop from its branches descend and take root in the soil to become new trunks. The banyan reaches a height up to 30 meters (100 feet) and spreads laterally indefinitely. One tree may in time assume the appearance of a very dense thicket as a result of the tangle of roots and trunks. ( Enc. Britannica)
[7] For sake of simplicity we call Buddha (the Enlightened) also the man who did not yet reach the enlightenment.
[8] The trident (Sanskrit trishula) is Shiva’s weapon.
