Published: 2021-12-24

“A monument to immortal memory lasting like the pyramids.” Notes on the epitaph function of the coffin portrait in the modern period

Aleksander Jankowski
Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
Section: Studies and Materials
DOI https://doi.org/10.23858/KHKM69.2021.4.006

Abstract

This article discusses the function that the coffin portrait played after burial — a question that has not yet been discussed in the literature of the subject. The image of the deceased, when hung in a sacred space, preserved his or her memory and emphasised that person’s “presence” during the liturgy. The basis for the analysis is primarily constituted by the inscriptions identifying the deceased which accompanied the image and were usually placed on separate metal plates attached to the coffin together with the portrait. These texts are often in the form of panegyrics and contain phrases addressed mainly to participants in religious practices following the burial. The inscriptions reflect the different visions of the afterlife held by Catholics and Protestants.

Keywords:

Culture of Old Poland,, Coffin Portrait, Epitaph Portrait, Epitaph, Missae pro defunctis, Grave Banner, Vexilla epitaphalia, Purgatory Soul

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Jankowski, A. (2021). “A monument to immortal memory lasting like the pyramids.” Notes on the epitaph function of the coffin portrait in the modern period. Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej, 69(4), 513–526. https://doi.org/10.23858/KHKM69.2021.4.006

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