Tree Shaped Tombstones - Some Fine Details

On a fall road trip I found a number of tree shaped tombstones on a day when the conditions for photos were rather good.  It had been raining, and details always show a bit better when the limestone is damp.  It was still cloudy but the light was decent, so less of the washed out/shadowed effect that comes with bright sunshine.

Here are a couple of tombstones from Portage Wisconsin.

Elegant work here.  The bark looks coarse and rough.  If you ran your fingers over it blindfolded you would believe it to be the real thing.  The linked chain...such delicate work with hammer and chisel.  It would not pass the "touch" test but certainly looks like beaten metal.

Another example, with the "Book of Life" weathered blank as usual.

Look at the detail on the broken limb.  To be able to carve this image of wood under strain you must have understood both the stonemason's trade and that of the carpenter.