Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/523

 AT MINSTEK, ISLE OF SIIEPPEY. 355 breast ; l)ut it is fixed in a sort of niche in the breast, of the " pointed oval " form, and surrounded by five incised crosses, " emblematic of the five wounds of Christ." See Langley's " Hist, of the Hundred of Desborough," where this singular monument is described and engraved. The liberated soul, represented under the form of a figure in prayer, is of fre- quent occurrence in sepidchral memorials, in wall-paintings, and even in illuminations. In sculpture, it is seen in the monuments of Aymer de Valence, in Westminster Abbey, and Bishop Nortliwold, at Ely ;^ in Flemish brasses it usually appears among the accessories of the canopy-work. In these last-named examples, however, the soul is represented as borne to Heaven in an ample sheet of drapery ; Abraham being figured, also, as receiving the liberated spirit into the abode of the blest. Thus, on the brass of Laurence de St. Maur, at Higham P'errcrs, we read : "In sinu abi'ahe angeli deducant me." The figure of Abraham, being nimbed, has sometimes been mistaken for the Deity ; but the absence of the cross on the nimbus, shows that the Divine Person is not intended. A very curious instance of souls borne in drapery occurs in the " dalle tumulaire " of Eudeline de Chaubrant and her two daughters, at Chalons-sur-Marne, c. 1338. Abraham there holds the drapery, in which are all the three souls. See "Annales Archeologiques," iii., 283, where this singular memorial is engraved. The figure of a Heart, sometimes held in the hands, as the emblem is in the efl&gy before us, and sometimes unaccompa- nied by any personal representation, may seem equally to be the symbol of the liberated soul. It has indeed been described in many successive works on monumental brasses as signifying the fulfilment of a vow. But no ancient authorities are quoted in su])port of this view ; neither does there appear any connec- tion, immediate or remote, between the figure and the sup- {)Osed signification ; noi- do the inscriptions which often accompany the lieart, in the slightest degree allude to vows formed or vows achieved. Of figures bearing hearts in the hand, we may mention the sculpture of P>ishop Ethelmar de 'alencc, at Winchester (Brittt)n's '• Cathedrals ") ; the brass of a knight, at Buslingthorpe (Waller, page 3) ; and the brass of a lady, at Great Ormsby, Norfolk (Cotman. PI. Lxvi.) ' I'.oth ligurtd ill Stotliard's .Mi)iiunieiits.