Tomb - effigial

The National Monuments Service's description

From O’Mahony, A. (1987, 5, c) In the tomb niche in the N wall of the Chancel is a stone slab (Wth 0.48m; H 1.09m; T 0.18m) known as the ‘Bambino’ stone of New Ross. It represents an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes to the ankles. His head rests on a ‘cushion’ which extends across the stone and he is flanked by two heads – a male on the left and a female on the right. The female wears a pill-box type head-dress with a band beneath the chin. The infant’s face has a happy expression. There have been various suggestions regarding this stone(1). It most probably represents a child who died in early infancy, with the parents on either side. Date: probably late 13th century. A similar stone bearing the effigies of two infants in swaddling clothes is to be seen in St. John’s Church, Tralee, Co. Kerry (Harbison 1973b, 10). (Buckley 1899; Hunt 1974, vol. 1, 238, No. 266)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 2 August, 2012

References

Hunt, J. 1974 Irish medieval figure sculpture 1200-1600, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish University Press.

Harbison, P. 1973 Some medieval sculptures in Kerry. Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 6, 9-25.

Buckley, M.J.C. 1899 The ‘Bambino' of New Ross. JRSAI 28, 250-3, check, Vigors, P.D. The Bambino stone. Mems. Dead. Vol. 4, 330-1.