The Triumph of Life Over Death

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Among the extraordinary historic monuments preserved inside St Leonard's Church, Streatham, stands this magnificent late-seventeenth-century Baroque memorial to John Howland, who died in 1686.
Erected by his wife Elizabeth, the monument is an exuberant expression of wealth, remembrance and Christian hope.
A monumental architectural surround, embellished with gilded details, frames an elaborate heraldic shield. Heavy sculpted drapery hangs from the structure, while an urn and two cherubs occupy its centre.
Directly beneath them sits a skull.
The contrast is deliberate.
The skull reminds the living of their mortality, while the youthful figures and the monument's religious symbolism express hope beyond death. St Leonard's describes the memorial as representing the triumph of life over death.
Its theatrical composition, combining classical architectural forms with extravagant decoration, is characteristic of the Baroque approach to commemoration.
What makes the monument particularly remarkable is its survival.
Much of St Leonard's interior was devastated by fire on 5 May 1975, yet several important historic memorials survived, including this extraordinary example of seventeenth-century funerary sculpture.
More than three centuries after John Howland's death, the monument continues to command attention.
A reminder that although death may be inevitable, remembrance can be remarkably enduring.