Le epigrafi delle porte cittadine di Genova medievale Porta Soprana e Porta dei Vacca

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive study of the Latin epigraphs of Porta Soprana and Porta dei Vacca in Genoa, which commemorate the construction of the city walls begun in 1155. It offers an edition of their text, with new proposed readings, and argues in favour of the originality of the plaques found in Porta Soprana. The palaeographical analysis of the medieval inscriptional capitals used in these epigraphs allows a comparison with examples from other cities, especially Pisa. After an examination of the formal features of the text in hexameters of the inscriptions of Porta Soprana, its content is assessed in the light of the historical context (the friction between Genoa and Frederick Barbarossa) and some interpretation and hypotheses regarding its composition are offered. Finally, the study of the allusions to these epigraphic carmina in the poem de victoria by Ursone da Sestri (1242 ca.) allows to draw some considerations on their reception and exploitation.