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Why Do Old Tombs Make a Dead Person Look So Alive?
The great lengths medieval generations went to for their salvation
Not far from where I live there is a church containing the gilded bronze effigy of Richard Beauchamp (1382–1439), a medieval nobleman.
The tomb is housed in a purpose-built chapel inside the church of St Mary in Warwick, England. Over the years I’ve visited many times and always I come away feeling even more fascinated by the strangely mesmerising effigy.
Richard Beauchamp was the 13th Earl of Warwick. He led an eventful life: having been knighted at the coronation of King Henry IV, he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and developed a reputation for skilled armoured combat.
The centrepiece of his tomb is a bronze effigy, made around 1450. The effigy is cast with astonishing realism. The facial expression is serene yet concentrated; the hands are in an attitude of prayer, though curiously not joined together.
Most strikingly, the man looks alive. His eyes are open. The veins in his hands and at his temples are pronounced as if blood is still ticking through the channels. He wears his combat armour, and at his feet are a griffin (denoting strength, military courage and leadership) and a bear, heraldic creatures which adorn his family coats of…
