It is commonplace to find tombs and effigies of the wealthy and influential in England's cathedrals. The sculpted men and women are usually replendent in their finest clothes and armour. They further display their status and connections through coats of arms and references, pictorial and written, to their civil and/or military achievements. Occasionally, however, poignant additions to the display of swagger can be found. The photographs today show the tomb and effigies of Alexander Denton (d.1576) and his wife Anne (d.1566) in Hereford Cathedral. To most viewers the damage inflicted to faces and hands by Puritan iconoclasts of the seventeenth century are the most eye-catching features.
Rather fewer notice the swaddled child with its pillow, tucked by Anne's leg, an indication that she and the child died during childbirth. This touching feature gives the modern viewer a reminder of the precariousness of life at that time and shows how riches could not transcend such losses.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Nikon Z 5
