Edward Rutledge was, at the age of 26, the youngest signer of the US Declaration of Independence. He later served as Governor of South Carolina. He was only 50 when he died. His “remains are deposited beneath this stone,” a marble slab sprinkled with symbolic fallen leaves, some brown, others gold. A Revolutionary War flag peeks at us from its head. A massive tree fills the upper left corner of the frame, while the partial slab leads the eye to the lower left corner.
Many of the leaves are almost tear-shaped, remindful of grief and mourning.