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A butterfly carved on a monument, most often a child's.
Also known as: Butterfly on a headstone
A butterfly. The reading — metamorphosis, and so resurrection — is old enough to be classical rather than Victorian: the Greek word psyche means both butterfly and soul, and that is a fact about the language rather than a later gloss.
A butterfly carved on a monument, read as metamorphosis and so as resurrection or the soul's transformation.
Contexts: History
The association is classical rather than Victorian: the Greek ψυχή, psyche, means both butterfly and soul, and the pairing appears in ancient art and literature.
Classical antiquity onward
Frequently found on the graves of children, though less consistently than the lamb.
An insect shown from above with a narrow body and two pairs of broad wings spread symmetrically to each side, with two thin antennae.