Medieval Green Man Skull Carving

Green Man Skull taken from the medieval carvings that are found upon the highly decorated Misericords and supports within the choir stalls at Ely Cathedral.

This carving shows a depiction of the legendary pagan image of the Green Man. This most interesting portrait shows the Green Man as a human skull, seen with the classic foliage around the head but most differently being that of an image of death. The Green Man symbolises the eternal cycle of life from one generation to the next through birth to death and then carried on in the next generation and has close associations with nature, the natural elements and Mother Nature. This carving is set to remind us that we are all mortal beings with death a close certainty; this would have been most prominent in the medieval period where life was very hard and full of uncertainties. This replica is taken directly from the original, replicating all the fine work done by the craftsmen that carved this great piece centuries ago.