Scottish abbot's tomb slab
Type:
Sculptures,
Tombs,
Monasteries
Date:
Thirteenth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Scotland
Medium:
Stone
Dimensions:
131 × 51 × 21 cm
Description:
This thirteenth-century sandstone tomb sculpture depicts an abbot, recognizable by the tall, curved crosier that signifies his rank (such crosiers were also carried by bishops). It was originally in the chapter house of the ruined Cistercian abbey at Dundrennan in Scotland, which was founded in 1142; the slab is still on display there. In the following century the abbey was famous for producing wool, which was purchased by Italian merchants. The slab is exceptional for its iconography. The abbot holds his right hand to a dagger on (or in) his chest, and his crosier touches the head of a small, half-nude figure whose guts spill from his abdomen. If the the figure on the bottom is not a personification, the sculpture appears to commemorate an attack on the abbot and the fate of his assailant. In the absence of textual records, this medieval murder mystery remains unsolved.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
8,
9
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
