Carving Salvation into Stone on an Eleventh-Century Spanish Tomb

Abstract

The eleventh-century marble sarcophagus of the young noble Alfonso Ansúrez is both exceptionally clear and frustratingly enigmatic. Inscriptions label every detail, down to a cup labeled calix, and large carved figures signal the viewer through pronounced gestures. Nonetheless, the tomb’s details do not conform to standard funerary iconography. Unlike the typical medieval representation of the deceased as a nude, androgynous soul, the young Alfonso is shown fully dressed and animate. This paper argues that Alfonso is carved in life to ensure his reception of essential last rites, which may not have been observed before his untimely death. The carefully marked details actualize in stone a ritual indispensable for the salvation of his soul.