weepers (sculptures)
- Scope note
- Sculpted figures in mourning displayed on sepulchral monuments or tombs. Based on Antique examples, they became popular as small figures, often family members, in niches on European sepulchral monuments in the 13th century. By the 14th century the first representations appear of the heavily cloaked and cowled professional mourners who were normally employed to follow the coffin in a funeral procession. In later centuries, weeping or fainting angels or female figures became common.
- Date of creation: 18-Nov-2024
Accepted term: 18-Nov-2024