The Last Will and Testament of Stoffer Jan Reinders

About this artwork.

 The Last Will and Testament of Stoffer Jan Reinders can be found at the Woltersum cemetery; it was created by Paul Perry. The work relates to a gravestone in the cemetery, the inscription on which, with the birth and death dates of two brothers, makes it clear that the youngest brother was conceived shortly after the death of his older brother. Their parents gave them the same first name: Stoffer Jan. 

Moved by this touching memorial, Perry designed a bronze tombstone with the text of a will that may have been written by a Stoffer Jan, if either of them had lived to adulthood. He deliberately left it unfinished, as a sign of the still unborn and undying Stoffer Jan. The top of the tombstone is adorned with a sword named WIDDERSHINS, a word which means “against time” or “moving against the direction of the sun”. Only when a future Stoffer Jan Reinders dies will a valid declaration of his will and testament designate the heir to whom the sword will fall.

The Last Will and Testament of Stoffer Jan Reinders is part of a project focusing on visual art in cemeteries called Op Hoogte Gedacht (which translates approximately as 'thinking at a higher level'), which itself is run by the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken (Old Groningen Churches Foundation). The project started in 2004, with the aim of bringing more peoples’ attention to historic cemeteries in Groningen. The seven works of art that have come to life as a result reflect, in their own way, the specific function and meaning of the place.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Paul Perry

• District
  Ten Boer en omgeving

• Year of creation
  2012

• Art type
  Monument

• Material
  Bronze

• Dimensions
  h 2,25 x b 0,59 x d 0,21 m