Cuneo Civic Museum - Gasparre Malopera's tombstone

Gasparre Malopera's tombstone

The tombstone and commemorative plaque of the Knight of Jerusalem Gasparre Malopera was dedicated by his brothers Claudio and Giorgio and reused in 1678 by the Mocchia and Malopera families, who had married. The civic-owned work is made of sculpted and engraved marble, dates between 1547 and 1678 AD, measures 164 x 89.5 cm, and is inscribed in an epigraphic capital.

In the lower section is the shield, shaped and crumpled, containing the epigraph of Gasparre Malopera and supported by two winged cherubs standing on two shields bearing the family coat of arms. The whole is surmounted by a five-petalled rose and the cartouche with the inscription "Victor et Triumphant.".

The shield reads in translation: “To the Mocchia and Malopera families, who had a common marriage, a common tomb, in the year of our Lord 1678. To Gasparre Malopera, knight of Jerusalem, to his excellent brother, they dedicated Claudio, senator and duke, and Giorgio, in the year 1547. He lived twenty-eight years.”

The upper section was added in 1678 and features a shield with the coats of arms of two united families, surmounted by the county crown, known as the comites, or counts' crown. On the left side, the Malopera family is distinguished by crowned lions alternating with bands flanked by two stars; on the right side, alternating bands of azure and argent identify the Mocchia family's coat of arms.

As in ancient times, the work is placed on the floor, in front of the left end wall of the Malopera chapel, in the nave to the right of the entrance.

The antiquity and rank of both families is evidenced by their presence in the most prestigious religious building in the city of that time.