Transi is a type of sculptural tombstone that is made in the form of a partially decomposed corpse. Such tombstones were created in Europe during the late Middle Ages and in the Renaissance .
Such tombstones first appeared in some areas of Northern Europe at the end of the 14th century . They could be a figure entirely wrapped in a shroud , a skeleton covered with the remains of the skin, a decaying corpse with protruding insides or covered with toads and snakes.
Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, transi became widespread in Northern Europe. In England they depicted withered bodies, while in Austria and Germany dominated by figures covered with snakes and toads, and in France , Burgundy and Scotland - wrapped figures. In France, sculptors often created statues in the form of bodies corroded by worms. In the XVI century , another type appeared in France, depicting naked corpses only a few hours after death.
Transi could be located on the grave in different ways. In some cases, they could be carved at the bottom of a large bas-relief representing a religious scene. In Germany, a small transi figure could be depicted at the bottom of the coat of arms . Sometimes a full-size figure could be cut out on a gravestone . Transi could be complemented by a small prayer figure located above, which personified the soul of the deceased. Complex tombstones were also common, in which the trance figure was combined with the sculptural image of a living person. Both sculptures were performed in full size, and in England they were placed in a supine position one above the other, and in France the figure of a living person was executed in a kneeling pose. In both cases, transi were located below the second figure.
The meaning and purpose of transi has not yet been adequately explained. Some early authors believed that they serve as a literal illustration of what happens to the body of a deceased after death. Many modern scholars agree that the figures had to fulfill the function of memento mori (to remind the living of the inevitability of death).
See also
- Effigia
- Image of death
- Macabre
Transi Medic Guillaume de Arsigny (1394)
Transi Richard Fleming, England, XV century. The lower figure is transi, and the upper one represents a living person.
Transi in the form of a bas-relief. France.
Transy at Tuckbury Abbey. The monument was intended for John Wakeman, who was his abbot in 1531-1539, but was buried elsewhere.
L'Homme à moulons (Man with Worms). Bussu, Belgium.
Sculpture-Transi Liège Richet
Sources
- Kathleen Cohen. Metamorphosis of a Death Symbol: The Transi Tomb in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. University of California Press , 1973. P. 1-11