{"id":3137,"date":"2026-07-29T09:37:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T07:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museobenozzogozzoli.it\/?page_id=3137"},"modified":"2026-10-23T17:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T15:59:11","slug":"the-execution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.museobenozzogozzoli.it\/en\/discover-benozzo-and-his-museum\/benozzo-works\/benozzo-in-the-international-scene\/tabernacle-of-the-executed\/the-execution\/","title":{"rendered":"The Capital Execution"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>L\u2019esecuzione capitale<\/h2>\n<p>L\u2019esecuzione capitale durante il Quattrocento rispettava la consueta tradizione di essere celebrata in pubblico; alla spettacolarit\u00e0 dell\u2019evento si attribuiva una sorta di memento per tutti coloro che vi partecipavano ed era compito delle Confraternite, attraverso la loro opera di conforto ai condannati, riportare l\u2019avvenimento nell\u2019ambito della morte religiosa. Le condanne inflitte erano tra le pi\u00f9 terribili: il giustiziato poteva essere decapitato e poi squartato, mazzolato e ugualmente dilaniato, bruciato vivo oppure, nella maggior parte dei casi, impiccato.<\/p>\n<p>Dopo che il giudice aveva pronunciato la condanna, il giustiziato nelle ultime ore precedenti l\u2019esecuzione era confortato da una congregazione preposta allo scopo, che si occupava fondamentalmente di esortarlo ad espiare i propri peccati. Il pentimento poteva non essere immediato e spesso richiedeva un percorso preciso che, dal XVI secolo, seguiva il racconto della <em>Via Crucis<\/em>, messo in scena come una vera e propria rappresentazione teatrale con tanto di personaggi che vi partecipavano.<\/p>\n<p>I confratelli che assistevano i condannati facevano spesso ricorso alle sacre immagini dove in primo luogo erano rappresentate la passione e la morte di Ges\u00f9; al pentimento seguiva la recita di un\u2019Ave Maria e l\u2019invito rivolto al giustiziato a pronunciare le sue ultime volont\u00e0. Si concludeva con la celebrazione della Santa Messa, che in alcuni casi poteva essere ripetuta per tre volte consecutive: la prima dedicata ai confratelli, la seconda al condannato e la terza al perdono invocato dal giustiziato con l\u2019assistenza dei confortatori. Iniziava poi la processione verso il luogo del patibolo, dove la folla non si limitava ad assistere lungo il percorso, ma partecipava al corteo intervenendo nelle diverse fasi del rituale. Ad attendere il condannato era il boia. Questa figura ricopriva un ruolo davvero particolare: oltre a dover cinicamente compiere l\u2019esecuzione materiale era tenuto a non commettere nessun errore; un\u2019esecuzione scorretta avrebbe fatto soffrire il giustiziato, facendo cos\u00ec evincere la terribile brutalit\u00e0 della cerimonia. Al carnefice, dato il suo particolare ruolo, spettavano le vesti e talora la facolt\u00e0 di vivisezionare il corpo, dal quale poteva trarre alcuni parti, che in seguito avrebbe utilizzato per produrre unguenti e medicine. Questi prodotti erano molto ricercati perch\u00e9 essendo creati dalle mani del boia (creduto un mediatore tra la vita e la morte) erano considerati particolarmente efficaci. Talvolta accadeva che, nonostante l\u2019esortazione al pentimento, il condannato mantenesse le proprie idee e non facesse alcun atto di ammissione e di fede; in questo caso i confratelli abbandonavano il proprio compito e il corpo veniva sepolto fuori dalle mura &#8211; lontano dalla citt\u00e0 &#8211; senza che venissero svolte n\u00e9 la processione ufficiale, n\u00e9 la lettura delle litanie, ed escludendo infine l\u2019utilizzo di croci e candele, sempre presenti nelle cerimonie solenni.<\/p>\n<p>Il primo stato ad abolire la pena capitale fu il Granducato di Toscana con l&#8217;emanazione del nuovo codice penale toscano firmato il 30 novembre 1786 dal granduca Pietro Leopoldo.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2128\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2128\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2128 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.museobenozzogozzoli.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lesecuzione-capitale.jpg\" alt=\"Beato Angelico, Decapitazione dei santi Cosma e Damiano\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2128\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beato Angelico, Decapitazione dei santi Cosma e Damiano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"taglib-header \">\n<h3 class=\"header-title\">Tabernacolo dei Giustiziati<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>L\u2019esecuzione capitale L\u2019esecuzione capitale durante il Quattrocento rispettava la consueta tradizione di essere celebrata in pubblico; alla spettacolarit\u00e0 dell\u2019evento si attribuiva una sorta di memento per tutti coloro che vi partecipavano ed era compito delle Confraternite, attraverso la loro opera di conforto ai condannati, riportare l\u2019avvenimento nell\u2019ambito della morte religiosa. Le condanne inflitte erano tra [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":2970,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3137","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Capital Punishment in the 15th Century - Museo BeGo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rituals, religious confraternities, and public executions in the 15th century: the historical context of Benozzo Gozzoli\u2019s Tabernacle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.museobenozzogozzoli.it\/en\/discover-benozzo-and-his-museum\/benozzo-works\/benozzo-in-the-international-scene\/tabernacle-of-the-executed\/the-execution\/\" 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