The Phaedra Sarcophagus

n the year 1076, a woman named Beatrice died and was laid to rest in Pisa, in the cemetery of the Cathedral. Her coffin was an ancient Roman sarcophagus, carved nearly a thousand years before, probably in Rome. I don’t know what happened to the original occupant. In any case, Beatrice took up residence there, and her daughter Matilda had her mother’s name inscribed on the base, where you can still see it today. It’s in the Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa, where they keep the Leaning Tower, the Pisa Cathedral, and the great