Gisant

Cadaver monuments

The practice of showing the deceased as a decomposing corpse began in France in the late 14th century and soon spread across Northern Europe. Known as cadaver monuments (French: Transi), these effigies show the deceased as an emaciated corpse, usually with closed eyes, wearing a shroud or naked (but with their hands arranged to preserve modesty). The format is in stark contrast to gisants, which are always in full dress, with open eyes and often with hands clasped and raised in prayer. The best-known examples were produced by members of the first rank of contemporary sculptors, including Conrad Meit (d. c. 1550). A variation known as demigisant or gisant accounde ("lying on his shoulder") shows the figure lying on its side, held up by its elbows in the Etruscan style while awaiting death, while the mourant assiste type shows the deceased alive but alone, lying on their back.