A Collection of Sepulchral Monuments ~ Liturgical Arts Journal

Deo Optimo Maximo; to God, most good, most great. It is a formulation seen time and time again -- usually expressed in the abbreviation D • O • M . Something similar, invocation wise, was seen in the days of the Roman empire, expressed then as D • M, dis manibus, in relation to their deities who they believed protected the dead. As in Roman times, where it is especially seen is upon funerary, or sepulchral, monuments and, being so close to All Souls Day, it is to those that I wish to turn our attention today.

Monuments such as these can be very easily overlooked as our attention fixates on altars, devotional statuary and the like, but these monuments can also provide some interesting and edifying examples of ecclesiastical art in their own right. Frequently they include memento mori and ecclesiastical heraldry and vesture, they can also provide insight into the families at a particular time and place, and in general they frequently also contain interesting portraits and other architectural and ornamental details worthy of study.

The following examples span the 16th to 19th centuries. I'd encourage you not to just skip past them as you might if you found them in one of the great churches of Europe; rather, stop and consider some of the details.