Dante arrived in Verona in 1304, an exile from his home in Florence. Bartolomeo della Scala, the Lord of the city gave him space to write. (See Canto XVII of il Paradiso) He lived for a time in the palace and became good friends with Cangrande, Scala's younger brother. He engaged in some diplomatic missions for Scala and participated in the Verona palio horse race which he describes in the Comedia.
Mastimo II had the horse statue commemorating his uncle, Cangrande, installed at the time of building his own monument. His son, Cansignori, took control of the city by assassinating his two brothers. The Arc of Cansignori in the corner is elaborate and quite a testament to his opinion of himself. Formed in a hexagon with six saints and six episodes from the Bible, the niches at the base have representations of the four cardinal virtues and two theological virtues (hope and charity). Cansignori himself represents the virtue of faith.
The Santa Maria parish cemetary (now called Santa Maria Antica), which had also been the chapel of the Scala family, was tranformed into a monument to the Scalieri family between 1200-1300. The first lords were entombed in red marble sarcophagi with peaked roofs. Bartolomeo and Cangrade are buried here. Mastimo II, a nephew, brought Cangrade's body back from Trevisio where he had died from poisoning. The sarcophogus has scenes depicting battles that Cangrande had won in Padua, Vicenza, Feltre and Belluno.
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