gems, early lapidaries, Europe, Italy, Treviso

In the storerooms of the Civic Museums is preserved a medieval lapidary (sarcophagi, tomb slabs, inscriptions, plaques, reliefs) that Abbot Luigi Bailo began collecting in the late 19th century, with the aim of cataloguing and bringing it to light. Some of these valuable documents of Treviso’s history—together with the collection of Venetian lion sculptures from Ca’ da Noal—have been restored, catalogued, deciphered, and historically contextualized. Through a fragment of stone, an inscription, or a tomb slab, figures from medieval Treviso who played a role in the society of their time emerge once more; family ties, fortunes and inheritances, customs, habits, and behaviors are brought back to life. It is a small yet significant act of rediscovery and restitution to the city of a set of historical artifacts—traces of civilization that help preserve, recognize, and nourish memory and identity.