Iconographic representations of mortality and resurrection in 17th-century Gloucestershire

Research into the representation of death and resurrection on gravestones has given relatively little attention to the place of the death’s head and cherub on English monuments in church and churchyard, with most enquiries focusing upon Scotland and New England. Gaps in the English evidence caused by decay and destruction have encouraged the imposition of a stylistic chronology established at a distance from the material under study. This paper considers the configuration of symbols of mortality and resurrection on the memorials of Gloucestershire. It seeks to uncover reasons for their use, interpreting each monument in terms of its individual design and positioning. It also challenges the established chronological progression from death’s head to cherub and the presumption that images of mortality and resurrection were presented in deliberate contrast with each other."