While a status of an urn draped with a drape or shawl indicates deep mourning or sadness for an adult, there are examples of children's statuary. While some of these images may seem self-explanatory, others may be more cryptic. Flowers represent the fragility of life and plucked flowers indicate the early severance of a life in bloom. A lion is indicative of courage and an arrow represents mortality. A snake with its tail in its mouth indicates everlasting life in heaven, while a coiled snake indicates sin.
Roosters are common in some cemeteries, representing resurrection.
The pelican represents redemption through Christ, while ants indicate Christian industriousness. Scales are indicative of the weighing of justice for the judgment of the dead. Sometimes there will be Latin phrases carved on stones. There are many other such phrases that can be interpreted with a simple Latin dictionary. Using Iconography in Research Remember that the icons were used for a reason.