Why go
These lower layers explain why the Arca looks assembled rather than uniform. Alfonso Lombardi’s step adds new narrative scenes, while the eighteenth-century altar and the small reliquary space show how the tomb continued to serve devotion long after its medieval core was finished.
The full story
Alfonso Lombardi carved the step between the sarcophagus and altar slab in 1532. Its scenes include Dominic’s birth, his youthful penance and his sale of valuable books to help the poor. A central Adoration of the Magi carries the sculptor’s inscription; another scene shows the saint ascending toward heaven. The marble altar below is later still. Mauro Tesi designed it, and Alessandro Salviolini built it in 1768. Its frontal depicts Dominic’s burial, while the two candlestick angels above the altar were made by Niccolò dell’Arca and Michelangelo. Behind and below the sarcophagus, a small space holds a gold and silver reliquary made by Jacopo Roseto da Bologna in 1383 for the saint’s head. Its octagonal base has enamelled scenes and supports a small Gothic structure. The relic’s setting makes clear that this was a place of sustained devotion, not simply a display of sculpture.