Funeral Effigies

For almost all of the early Plantagenets we have very little to go on in the way of portraiture.  Pictures of the Kings and Queens and their family were often stylized illuminations in manuscripts, or elaborate tomb carvings.  Neither of which was likely accurate in terms of how they looked.  However, there may be another clue in the carved wooden effigies used at their funerals.

State funerals for monarchs and members of royalty were even more elaborate in Medieval times than they are now, and a much more drawn out process.  A deceased person would have to be transported from where they died to their intended burial spot, then would like in state several days or even weeks while masses were said for their soul.  At that time, lying in state meant exactly that, a body or representation of a body lying on a bier with candles burning around them.  In the era before modern embalming techniques and depending on the condition of the corpse, a body could break down and begin to decay and stink quite rapidly after death.  What to do?

As part of the elaborate preparations made for such funerals, a wooden effigy of the deceased would be carved and laid over the casket containing the remains, or the bier if the casket and physical body weren't present.  These effigies could be made of either wood or wax.  However, wax in the presence of a number of wax candles burning could present a problem.  The effigy would be carved and painted to resemble the deceased, and either clothed in that person's garments and robes of state, or a portion of the clothing carved into the likeness.  Crowns or other jewelry could be added as needed.  Once the funeral was over and the coffin properly buried in the crypt, the effigy was sometimes saved for additional memorials later.  And, some of these effigies have managed to withstand the test of time and come down to us.

The most striking thing about these wooden effigies is how lifelike they look.  No doubt, the carvers tended to present the deceased in the best light possible.  Edward III died at age 64, but his effigy is hardly that of an old geezer, but a middle aged man.  Anne of Bohemia, Catherine of Valois and Elizabeth of York all look much younger.  And they were, even for those days.  Anne of Bohemia, whose wooden head has been preserved, was only 28 when she died.  Catherine of Valois, who survives as a nearly intact full-length image, was 35.  Elizabeth of York, whose head and partial torso remain intact, was 37.  Aside from a forensic reconstruction of their skulls, this is the closest we can come face to face with them today.