Forgandenny Parish Churchyard. General view of the gravestone commemorating Alexander Robertson, 1783. Winged soul, panel with plough, 'Memento Mori' ribbon, skull and two bones. Digital image of A 37 ...

Description Forgandenny Parish Churchyard. General view of the gravestone commemorating Alexander Robertson, 1783. Winged soul, panel with plough, 'Memento Mori' ribbon, skull and two bones. Digital image of A 37034 PO

Date 1985

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

Catalogue Number SC 803413

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 37034 PO

Scope and Content Gravestone of Alexander Robertson, Forgandenny Parish Church and Burial-Ground, Perth & Kinross The top of this gravestone features a winged soul with its head carved within a recess, giving the effect of a halo. Above the soul is a scallop shell. Winged souls symbolise the spirit ascending to Heaven after death. In the centre of the stone is an oval panel carved with a plough surrounded with scrolling foliage. At the base of the stone is a pair of bones and a skull, emblems of death. The majority of Scottish gravestones place the image of the soul at the top of the stone, and emblems of death at the bottom. This is partly a compositional device, as winged soul heads fit neatly into the arched tympanum (top part) of the stone, but on a symbolic level, it shows the human spirit triumphing over death. This gravestone commemorates Alexander Robertson, who died in 1783. It is inscribed: 'This stone is erected/by James Robertson/in memory of his father/Alexander Robertson late/tenant in Over Bunzion/who died Janry 23rd 1783/aged 69 years'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/803413

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap