Effigy


An effigy is a representation of a specific person in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional medium. The use of the term is normally restricted to certain contexts in a somewhat arbitrary way: recumbent effigies on tombs are so called, but standing statues of individuals, or busts, are usually not. Likenesses of religious figures in sculpture are not normally called effigies. Effigies are common elements of funerary art, especially as a recumbent effigy in stone or metal placed on a tomb, or a less permanent "funeral effigy", placed on the coffin in a grand funeral, wearing real clothing.
Figures, often caricatural in style, that are damaged, destroyed or paraded in order to harm the person represented by magical means, or merely to mock or insult them or their memory, are also called effigies. It is common to burn an effigy of a person as an act of protest.

Ethymology

The word is first documented in English in 1539 and comes, perhaps via French, from the Latin effigies, meaning "representation". This spelling was originally used in English for singular senses: even a single image was "the effigies of...". In effigie was probably understood as a Latin phrase until the 18th century. The word occurs in Shakespeare's As You Like It of 1600, where scansion suggests that the second syllable is to be emphasized, as in the Latin pronunciation.

Political effigies

The best known British example of a political effigy is the figure of Guy Fawkes, one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot who tried to assassinate King James I in 1605 by blowing up the House of Lords. Already a year later, the 5th of November was declared a holiday to celebrate the survival of the king and was celebrated with bonfires. Soon after, effigies of Guy Fawkes were burned. Traditionally, children make effigies from old clothing filled with straw to beg for “a penny for the guy,” and communities build their own bonfires. Currently, Lewes, on the south coast of England has the most elaborate celebrations of Guy Fawkes Night. Competing bonfire societies make effigies of important and unpopular figures in current affairs and burn them alongside effigies of Guy Fawkes and the Pope.
In many parts of the world, there are traditions of large caricature effigies of political or other figures carried on floats in parades at festivals. Political effigies serve a broadly similar purpose in political demonstrations and annual community rituals.

Religious effigies

In Oriental Orthodox, South and Latin American Christianity, populace used to burn or explode an effigy of Judas, just before Easter or on New Year's Eve. Now it is considered an obsolete custom and there are currently no attempts at revival.

Funeral effigies

Funeral effigies made from wood, cloth and wax played a role in the royal funeral rituals in early modern France and England. Following the medieval European doctrine of the double body of the king, these effigies represented the immortal and divine kingship. The effigy was dressed in the royal regalia and waited upon as if alive, while the monarch’s physical remains remained hidden in the coffin. After the coronation of the new king, these effigies were stored away. The museum of Westminster Abbey has a collection of English royal wax effigies reaching back to Edward III of England, who died in 1377. In the 18th century also other important personalities were honoured with a funeral effigy, for instance British prime minister Pitt the Elder, the naval hero Horatio Nelson, French emperor Napoleon, and Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, who also had her parrot stuffed and displayed at her own request and expense.
From the time of the funeral of Charles II in 1685, effigies were no longer placed on the coffin but were still made for later display. The effigy of Charles II was displayed over his tomb until the early 19th century, when all effigies were removed from the abbey. Nelson's effigy was a tourist attraction, commissioned the year after his death and his burial in St Paul's Cathedral in 1805. The government had decided that major public figures with State funerals should in future be buried at St Paul's. Concerned for their revenue from visitors, the Abbey decided it needed a rival attraction for admirers of Nelson.

Tomb effigies

A tomb effigy, in French gisant is the usually life-size sculpted figure on a tomb monument depicting the deceased. They typically represent the deceased in a state of "eternal repose", lying with hands folded in prayer and awaiting resurrection. Their formal attire often includes office insignia and heraldic symbols indicating social status and political office.

Effigy mound

An effigy mound is a term used in the archaeology of Pre-Columbian America for a large earthwork in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, human, or other figure and generally containing one or more human burials.

Other types

"Hanging in effigy", the practice of hanging a dummy that represented someone in authority has been done for centuries, including its use in Colonial America just prior to the American Revolution.
In the field of numismatics, effigy has been used to describe the central image or portrait on the obverse of a coin. A practice evident in reference literature of the 19th century, the obverse of a coin was said to depict “the ruler’s effigy”. The appearance and style of effigy used varies according to the preference of the monarch or ruler being depicted - for example, some, such as George VI of the United Kingdom have preferred to be shown uncrowned, while others have favoured highly-formal representations. It can also be the case that the monarch's reign becomes long enough to merit issuing a succession of effigies so that their appearance continues to be current. Such has been the case for Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II, who has been depicted by five different effigies on British coins and three different effigies on British postage stamps since she ascended to the throne in 1953.
In the past, criminals sentenced to death in absentia might be officially executed "in effigy" as a symbolic act. In southern India, effigies of the demon-king Ravana from the epic poem the Ramayana are traditionally burnt during the festival of Navrati.
The Marzanna ritual represents the end of the dark days of winter, the victory over death, and the welcoming of the spring rebirth. Marzanna is a Slavic goddess of death, associated with winter. The rite involves burning a female straw effigy or drowning it in a river, or both. It is a folk custom in Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, taking place on the day of the vernal equinox.
A Wicker man was a large human-shaped wicker statue allegedly used in Celtic paganism for human sacrifice by burning it, when loaded with captives.