medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Are the transi tombs more connected with the Memento mori / Ars
moriendi? I am reminded of the Wakeman centotaph at Tewksbury Abbey,
described thus on a web page I just found:
"This figure represents the usual 15th century effigy of a corpse in an
advanced state of decay. The difference with this one against others is
that this is a rare "Verminous Cadaver" with a mouse gnawing at his
bowels, a snake in his shroud near his feet, a worm on his left knee, a
beetle on his left arm and a frog near his head. There is also what is
thought to be a lizard on his left thigh. Wakeman was consecrated as the
first Bishop of Gloucester in 1541 and is buried elsewhere."
This is the URL, but I could not get the pictures to display:
http://www.churchmousewebsite.co.uk/cadavertombs/tewkesbury_cadaver.htm
Tom Izbicki
Dr Jim Bugslag wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Jon Cannon wrote:
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>> culture ...I like the term 'social body' for the late medieval
>> effigies one finds on transi tombs. I've recently studied one of
>> these in detail - John Carpenter, bp. of Worcester, to be published
>> by the Bristol Record Society later this year. In this case there is
>> (and probably never was) a 'social body', just a cadaver with mitre
>> and staff to indicate status in life. But the (lost but
>> reconstructable) architectural and iconographic setting for this tomb
>> strongly suggests a 'Resurrection' layer of meaning, too, at least in
>> this case.
>>
>> ...If these are the 'social bodies' of the people concerned, I wonder
>> if we need another for the more standardised and idealised effigies
>> of the C13/C14...
>
> In images of the Last Judgement, the Resurrected are generally shown
> naked, although one occasionally sees a naked bishop wearing his mitre
> or a naked king with his crown. One further factor that might argue
> against the "Resurrection" state is that the Resurrected have, I
> believe, not simply a perfectly resurrected body but also have their
> souls reconjoined with those bodies, whereas from about the late 13th
> century, one begins to get small images of a naked soul in the bosom
> of Abraham in the canopywork sheltering the effigy. And in the case
> of tomb brasses and other "floor tombs" the effigy is, if not intended
> to be walked on, at least expected to be walked on -- which might
> suggest that it was meant just to represent the mortal body rather
> than the Resurrected one. Another factor, certainly, is the lack of
> any naturalistic portrait for an effigy before about the late 14th
> century.
>>
>> ...In England there is a particularly inventive (and thus
>> instructive) phase in the earlier C14, when we get figures with their
>> eyes open (Bristol) or twisting on a bed of rocks, apparently about
>> to rise up and draw a sword (Burrough Green, Reepham, Ingham); these
>> presumably related to the much-studied and extraordinary C13
>> sword-reaching effigies (eg Dorchester abbey and elsewhere). If
>> *these* chaps are depicted in the moment of resurrection, their
>> defensive reaction may not sit well when Judgement begins!
> When it comes right down to it, there are a lot of anomalies in
> funerary effigies, and this probably, to some extent, registers
> broader anomalies concerning what happens to souls between death and
> the Last Judgement. Even at the "official" level of theology, there
> does not appear to have been a clear single position on many aspects
> of eschatology.
>>
>> ... I am interested to learn that Panofsky talks of family tombs with
>> kids in the C14. I can't think of them in England. Tomb with
>> 'weepers', yes, but not specifically kids. In any case, I presume
>> even our medieval people didn't think dead children would be
>> resurrected at age 33! ... (though nothing would suprise me...)
>
> There are lots of English family brasses.
> Cheers,
> Jim
>>
>
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