Death smiles at us all.

Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Roman emperor from 161 to 180

This gravestone, in the tiny graveyard of Leochel, is carved with an uncommon, but particularly potent, symbol of our inevitable fate, the Angel of Death, a.k.a. Father Time. Usually a very grim figure but here he is smiling at us.

The Angel of Death is usually depicted as a putto, a representation of a child, usually a boy, naked or as in this case, in swaddling clothes. The stone dates from the late 1700s and the putto is sporting a periwig in the fashion of the time. The Angel is carrying an hour-glass and a scythe to remind the observer that time is fast running out and that life may be cut short at any time. The stylised poppy at lower right symbolises eternal sleep.

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