I teach the ‘Art of Death’ @UniKentHistory @mems_ukc, which examines the visual culture of martyrs & the macabre from c150-1500. This is my fave tomb- in St Mary’s, Ewelme. It belongs to Alice de la Pole (d1475), Chaucer’s granddaughter #artinquarantine #arthistory #mdievalart 1/

Designed as a transi or ‘double-decker’ monument, the upper half displays an elegant effigy in alabaster, surrounded by angels (Pevsner rather rudely refers to her features as ‘horsey’) 2/

Below, the same noblewoman appears as a withered cadaver, with hollowed eyes & sunken breasts. A well-placed skeletal hand still holds her burial shroud over her genitalia in a gesture of perpetual modesty 3/

If you crouch down and look carefully, you’ll see a joyful painting of the Annunciation suspended above the contorted face- a hidden reminder of the beauty of this world and her faith in what comes next 4/