Of these by far the most remarkable is the Scott monument in East Princes Street Gardens, designed by George Meikle Kemp (1795-1844); it is in the form of a spiral Gothic cross with a central canopy beneath which is a seated statue of Scott with his dog " Maida " at his side, by Sir John Steell, the niches being occupied by characters in Sir Walter's writings.
The surface of the niches also has been painted with figures.
In this distridt are seen hundreds of small niches cut in the rock, as a rule about 2 ft.
They are generally decorated with a series of niches with figures in them, divided by small attached shafts with semicircular or sloping covers carved with religious emblems, one of the best examples being the sarcophagus of Sta Barbara, dating from the beginning of the 6th century, at Ravenna, where there are many others.
The dead were buried either in the floor (often in a sarcophagus), or, according to later custom, in niches.
