The Shakespeare funerary monument is a memorial to
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
located inside
Holy Trinity Church at
Stratford-upon-Avon in
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
, the church in which Shakespeare was
baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
and where he was buried in the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ov ...
two days after his death.
The monument, carved in pale blue limestone,
[Honan, Park. ''Shakespeare: A Life''. Oxford University Press. 1998. p. 402 ] is mounted on the north wall of the chancel. It has traditionally been identified as the work of the sculptor
Gerard Johnson, but this attribution is challenged by Lena Cowen Orlin, who argues that it was more likely modelled from life by Gerard's brother,
Nicholas Johnson.
The monument features a
demi-figure of the poet holding a (real)
quill pen
A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the metal- nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventuall ...
in one hand and a piece of paper resting on a cushion in the other. The style, which was popular from the early- to the mid-17th century, was most commonly used to memorialize divines, academics, and those professions with pretensions of learning. The buttoned
doublet, with its ornamental slashes, was probably originally painted scarlet, the loose
subfusc
The University of Oxford has a long tradition of academic dress, which continues to the present day.
When academic dress is worn
Unlike most other universities, which only usually require it during specific university ceremonies such as gr ...
gown black, the eyes hazel, and the hair and beard auburn. It has been retouched many times, and was painted entirely white in 1793.
This demi-figure is one of only two representations definitely accepted as accurately portraying William Shakespeare's physical appearance. The monument is topped with
strapwork
In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in ...
rising to a heraldic shield displaying Shakespeare's
arms, on either side of which sits an allegorical figure: one, representing
Labour, holds a
spade
A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...
, the other, representing
Rest
Rest or REST may refer to:
Relief from activity
* Sleep
** Bed rest
* Kneeling
* Lying (position)
* Sitting
* Squatting position
Structural support
* Structural support
** Rest (cue sports)
** Armrest
** Headrest
** Footrest
Arts and enter ...
, holds an inverted
torch
A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. I ...
and a
skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...
.
[Schoenbaum, S. (1987). ''William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life'', Oxford University Press, p. 308.]
The two columns that support the
entablatures and
coat-of-arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...
above the bust are of black polished
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
. The two
putti
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...
and the skull are of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, and the
capitals and bases of the columns are of gilded
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
. The
architraves,
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
and
cornice were originally of red-veined white
alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...
, but they were replaced in 1749 with white marble.
[Fox, Levi, ed. ''The Correspondence of the Reverend Joseph Greene'', HMSO, 1965, p. 171.] The effigy and the cushion are carved of one piece of bluish
Cotswold limestone, and the inlaid panels are of black touchstone.
The date the monument was erected is not known exactly, but it must have been before 1623; in that year, the
First Folio
''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
of Shakespeare's works was published, prefaced by a poem by
Leonard Digges that mentions "thy Stratford moniment" .
John Weever
John Weever (1576–1632) was an English antiquary and poet. He is best known for his ''Epigrammes in the Oldest Cut, and Newest Fashion'' (1599), containing epigrams on Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and other poets of his day, and for his ''Ancient ...
transcribed the monument inscription and grave epitaph, and
H. R. Woudhuysen's analysis of the undated manuscript suggests that his visit to Stratford was made not much later than 1617–18. The monument was restored in 1748–49 and has been repainted several times.
Inscriptions
Beneath the figure is engraved an
epitaph
An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and a poem in English. The epitaph reads:
The first line translates as "A Pylian in judgement, a Socrates in genius, a Maro in art," comparing Shakespeare to
Nestor the wise King of
Pylos, to the Greek philosopher
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
, and to the Roman poet
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
(whose last name, or ''
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
'' was Maro). The second reads "The earth buries him, the people mourn him, Olympus possesses him," referring to
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
, the home of the Greek gods.
The English poem reads:
As modernized by Katherine Duncan-Jones:
Stanley Wells is one of the few biographers to comment on the poem, saying that it "somewhat cryptically calls on the passer-by to pay tribute to his greatness as a writer", and admitting "the only sense I can make out of the last bit is that his compositions relegate the sculptor's art to the rank of a mere page – with perhaps a forced pun on the writer's 'pages' – offering service to his genius; or perhaps that all art subsequent to Shakespeare's is a page – servant – to his." Wells also points out that "his name does not deck the tomb, and it's not a tomb anyway", suggesting that it may have been originally designed to be part of a free-standing tomb.
Beneath the poem, in smaller lettering, an inscription gives the details of his death in abbreviated Latin: died the year of the Lord 1616, in his 53rd year, on 23 April.
History
The monument was first illustrated and discussed in print in Sir
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.
Life
Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coles ...
's ''Antiquities of Warwickshire'' (1656) in which Dugdale wrote that Stratford "gave birth and sepulture to our late famous Poet Will. Shakespere, whose Monument I have inserted in my discourse of the Church." The
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...
, almost certainly by
Wenceslaus Hollar
Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...
, was done from an original rough sketch made by Dugdale, probably in 1649,
likely under the
patronage of Shakespeare's granddaughter (and last living descendant),
Elizabeth Barnard
Elizabeth, Lady Bernard ( née Hall, formerly Nash) (baptised 21 February 1608 – 17 February 1670) was the granddaughter of the English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare. Despite two marriages, she had no children, and was his ...
.
Both depictions exhibit marked differences from the monument as it appears today: the poet is not shown holding a quill or paper, and the cushion appears to be tipped up against his body. The art critic
Marion Spielmann
Marion Harry Alexander Spielmann (London, 22 May 1858 – 1948) was a prolific Victorian art critic and scholar who was the editor of '' The Connoisseur'' and ''Magazine of Art''. Among his voluminous output, he wrote a history of ''Punch'', ...
described it as giving the impression that Shakespeare was pressing the cushion to his groin, "which, for no reason, except perhaps abdominal pains, is hugged against what dancing-masters euphemistically term the 'lower chest'". The print was copied by later engravers.
In 1725,
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's edition of Shakespeare's works included the first fairly accurate engraving of the monument, made by
George Vertue
George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.
Life
Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...
in 1723. A drawing of the monument ''in situ'' by Vertue also survives. An account by
John Aubrey
John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the '' Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist ...
, written in the early 1670s (but possibly based on observations made a decade or two earlier), describes Shakespeare as wearing "a
Tawny satten
doublet I thinke
pinked and over that a
black gowne like an Under-gratuates at Oxford,
scilicet
The abbreviation ''viz.'' (or ''viz'' without a full stop) is short for the Latin , which itself is a contraction of the Latin phrase ''videre licet'', meaning "it is permitted to see". It is used as a synonym for "namely", "that is to say", "to ...
the sleeves of the gowne doe not cover the armes, but hang loose behind".
The monument was restored in 1748–49. Parson Joseph Greene, master of
Stratford grammar school, organised the first known performance of a Shakespeare play in Stratford to fund the restoration.
John Ward's company agreed to perform ''
Othello'' in the
Town Hall on 9 September 1746, with all receipts going to help pay for the restoration.
Writing soon after the restoration, Greene wrote that "the figure of the Bard" was removed to be "cleansed of dust &c". He noted that the figure and cushion were carved from a single piece of limestone. He added that "care was taken, as nearly as could be, not to add to or diminish what the work consisted of, and appear'd to have been when first erected: And really, except changing the substance of the Architraves from alabaster to Marble; nothing has been chang'd, nothing alter'd, except supplying with original material, (sav'd for that purpose,) whatsoever was by accident broken off; reviving the Old Colouring, and renewing the Gilding that was lost".
John Hall, the limner from Bristol hired to do the restoration, painted a picture of the monument on
pasteboard
Card stock, also called cover stock and pasteboard, is paper that is thicker and more durable than normal writing and printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard.
Card stock is often used for business cards, ...
before 1748. Greene also had a plaster cast of the head made before the restoration began.
Shakespeare's pen has been repeatedly stolen and replaced since, and the paint has been renewed. In 1793
Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone (4 October 174125 May 1812) was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare.
Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first p ...
, the noted Shakespeare scholar, persuaded the vicar to paint the monument white, in keeping with the
Neoclassical taste of the time. The paint was removed in 1861 and the monument was repainted in the colours recovered from beneath the white layer.
[B. C. A. Windle, ''Shakespeare Country'', 1899, p. 35]
In 1973 intruders removed the figure from its niche and tried to chip out the inscription. Local police took the view that they were looking for valuable Shakespeare manuscripts, which were rumoured to be hidden within the monument. According to
Sam Schoenbaum, who examined it after the incident, the figure suffered only "very slight damage".
Interpretations
In the 1850s, the scientist
Richard Owen argued that a
death mask
A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
discovered in Germany by Ludwig Becker in 1849, known as the Kesselstadt Death Mask, was probably used by Gerard Johnson to model the face of the effigy. The mask had been claimed to be of Shakespeare because of a similarity to an alleged Shakespeare portrait Becker had bought two years earlier. This was depicted by the painter
Henry Wallis in his imaginary scene portraying
Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
showing the death mask to the sculptor. However, measurements of the mask and the monument figure did not correspond, most notably the bony structure of the forehead, and the idea was discredited. Though the Kesselstadt mask does not seem to fit,
Park Honan
Leonard Hobart Park Honan (17 September 1928 – 27 September 2014) was an American academic and author who spent most of his career in the UK. He wrote widely on the lives of authors and poets and published important biographies of such writers as ...
asserts that the facial features of the monument do appear to have been modelled on a mask: "His eyes stare, the face is heavy and the nose is small and sharp. Because of the shrinkage of the muscles and possibly of the nostrils, the upper lip is elongated".
Lena Cowen Orlin, however, proposes that the monument may have been commissioned by Shakespeare himself, during his lifetime, from Nicholas Johnson; and that the effigy was sculpted from the life.
Critics have generally been unkind about the appearance of the sculpture.
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
wrote that "Shakespeare's bust is a silly smiling thing".
J. Dover Wilson, a critic and biographer of Shakespeare, once remarked that the Bard's effigy makes him look like a "self-satisfied pork butcher." Sir
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
pointed out that the
iconographical type represented by the figure is that of a scholar or divine; his description of the effigy is "a self-satisfied schoolmaster".
Schoenbaum, however, says the monument is a
typical example of
Jacobean Renaissance style, and Spielmann says the "stiff simplicity" of the figure was more suitable for a sepulchral sculpture in a church than a more life-like depiction.
[Spielmann, 12.]
Gallery
File:Dugdale sketch 1634 Detail.jpg, Sketch by William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.
Life
Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coles ...
, probably made in 1649, and afterwards used by Wenceslaus Hollar
Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as . He is particu ...
for his engraving in Dugdale's ''Antiquities of Warwickshire''
File:Wenceslas Hollar - Clopton and Shakespeare (monument).jpg, The first published illustration of the monument, in Dugdale's ''Antiquities of Warwickshire'' (1656), engraved by Hollar
File:Antiquitiesofwar00dugd 0504.jpg, Hollar engraving in full context
File:Antiquitiesofwar00dugd 0507.jpg, Later page in Dugdale identifying the above monument as that of "our late famous Poet ''Will. Shakespere''", who was born and was buried in Stratford-upon-Avon
File:Rowe Shakespeare monument 1709.jpg, Michael Van der Gucht's engraving for Nicholas Rowe's ''Works of Mr. William Shakespear'' (1709), made from a plate copied from Hollar, as the reversed shadowing indicates
File:WS monument by Vertue.png, George Vertue's 1725 illustration for Pope's edition of Shakespeare's works, derived from his own drawing of the monument and the Chandos portrait Chandos may refer to:
Titles
* Duke of Chandos, and Baron Chandos, three English titles, all extinct
* Viscount Chandos, a modern title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Businesses
* Chandos Records
* Chandos Publishing
Other uses
* Chand ...
File:Vertue monument sketch001.jpg, Sketch made by George Vertue
George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.
Life
Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...
in 1737
File:Shakespeare's Monument painted by John Hall 1748.jpg, Painting of monument by limner John Hall made before its 1748–49 restoration
File:Grignion Shakespeare monument 1786.jpg, Engraving of Shakespeare's monument by Charles Grignion, derived from Hollar's engraving, first published in John Bell's 1786 edition of Shakespeare
File:Wheler monument 1806.jpg, Engraving by Francis Eginton from a drawing by Robert Bell Wheler published in Wheler's ''History and Antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon'' in 1806
Image:Stratford Holy Trinity Church3.jpg, The immediate context of the monument
File:Stratford-upon-Avon - Church of the Holy Trinity - Shakespeare's funerary monument.jpg, The wider context of the memorial, above the graves of Shakespeare and his wife
File:Shakespeare-holy-trinity-18.jpg, Close-up of features
File:Shakespeare-holy-trinity-13.jpg, Close-up of hand and quill
File:Shakespeare-holy-trinity-33.jpg, Profile from altar
File:MLSR0828.jpg, View of chancel of Holy Trinity Church, monument on left wall
Notes and references
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare's Funerary Monument
Busts in the United Kingdom
Monuments and memorials in Warwickshire
Funerary monument, Shakespeare's
Buildings and structures in Stratford-upon-Avon
1610s sculptures
Memorials to William Shakespeare
Skulls in art