Biography of Pietro Torrigiano 1472-1528

On 29 Jun 1509 Margaret Beaufort Countess Richmond (age 66) died in the Deanery, Westminster Abbey [Map]. She had lived to see the Coronation of her son King Henry VII of England and Ireland and her grandson King Henry VIII of England and Ireland (age 18).

She was buried at the King Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey [Map]. Her tomb was created by Pietro Torrigiano (age 36). The gilded bronze sculpture on the tomb depicts Margaret with her head resting on pillows and her hands raised in prayer, wearing garments characteristic of widowhood; the face was probably sculpted from a death mask. The black marble tomb is embellished with heraldic bronze insignia, including a Yale, her heraldic badge, at her feet.

The inscription written by the humanist scholar Erasmus reads "Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII, grandmother of Henry VIII, who donated funds for three monks of this abbey, a grammar school in Wimborne, a preacher in the whole of England, two lecturers in Scripture, one at Oxford, the other at Cambridge, where she also founded two colleges, one dedicated to Christ [Map], and the other to St John, the evangelist [Map]".

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