Abstract
does decay is a fact beyond the dispute of even those who attempt-by preservation of the royal clay-a futile denial of the laws of nature. Only kingship itself survives and becomes part of whomever is next in line of succession: the king is dead; long live the king! Thus it can be said that the nature of the man-king is dual: it is finite in the physical sense and eternal in the ideal sense. This dichotomy is inherent in the theory of the king's two bodies, which postulates a corresponding differentiation between the king's body politic and his body mortal. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries this concept developed legal connotations that progressively evolved from canonical doctrine, philosophical speculation, and the historical continuum. Its simultaneous manifestation in tomb sculpture reflected the realization that artistically idealized, sacrosanct rulers were but human beings who died as all men must die.
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