View of gravestone. Digital image of B 4393/19

Description View of gravestone. Digital image of B 4393/19

Date 1991

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

Catalogue Number SC 801048

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 4393/19

Scope and Content 17th-century gravestone, Lesmahagow Parish Church, Church Square, Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire Here a winged figure dominates this face of the stone and represents the soul of the deceased ascending to Heaven. Beneath a heart emblem is flanked by two flowers which may be roses. The heart is an easily recognised metaphor of love, though in this case it is probably meant to signify the deceased's love of God. While the 'language of flowers' reached its zenith during the later 19th century, there are many flowers and plants which already had their own long-standing associations and meanings. Roses, in particular, were highly symbolic in the Christian tradition being used as an emblem of the Virgin Mary who is referred to as the 'rose without thorns' in token of her sinlessness. Outwith the Christian tradition, Renaissance artists associated the rose with Venus, the Classical goddess of love because of the flower's beauty and fragrance. Its thorns were thought to symbolise the barbs of love. Unfortunately the inscription of this memorial has weathered, and the name of the person buried here is illegible. The remainder of the inscription reads: 'HERE/LYES THE BODY OF/........ WHO DIED/IN THE YEAR OF/OUR LORD 1622/AGED 33 YEARS'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801048

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap