View of gravestone with Adam and Eve scene, 1740.

Description View of gravestone with Adam and Eve scene, 1740.

Date 1980

Collection Papers of Betty Willsher, historian, St Andrews, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 789634

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of J 6682 S

Scope and Content Gravestone of John Burry, Little Dunkeld Parish Church and Graveyard, Perth & Kinross This shows part of the main face of the stone with its carved figures of Adam and Eve. Adam is on the left, reaching out his hand towards the apple tree, with the serpent which tempted Eve (right) to eat the forbidden fruit, curled around its trunk. Both the figures wear long skirts made of leaves, and the tree is shown full of fruit. The Biblical story of Adam and Eve represents the fall of man, and the need to be obedient to God. The story also suggests the coming of Christ (sometimes called the 'second Adam') and redemption. Adam and Eve scenes with their setting of the Garden of Eden, were often chosen for the decoration of the gravestones of gardeners. This gravestone commemorates John Burry, who died in 1744 at the age of 'About 60'. The stone is inscribed with the initials: 'I B' and 'I S'. The upper part of the stone (not shown) carries an image of a winged soul (emblem of the spirit ascending to Heaven) and two shields carved with the sock and coulter of a plough, the emblems of a farmer. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference BWA/24/S

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/789634

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap