The slab is not lying flat as a tomb lid ordinarily would be; it is mounted upright, embedded in masonry that was built in the nineteenth century over the chancel of a thirteenth-century church dedicated to St Mary. That earlier structure is largely gone, but the slab survived the transition, and its inscription has survived too, worn but legible enough to anchor the object to a specific man and a specific day.

The inscription runs along the chamfered, angled edge of the slab in Lombardic script, a rounded, formal letterform used across medieval Europe for monumental and liturgical purposes. It names Radoulfus Julianus and records his death on 19 March 1253, praising him as generous to those in need. The carving above the inscription shows a male figure in raised relief, identified by his vestments as a priest rather than a knight or nobleman. Scholar John Hunt, writing in 1974, catalogued the figure's clothing in close detail: a finely pleated alb, the long white undergarment worn by clergy; a chasuble, the outer vestment draped over the shoulders; a stole and maniple, the narrow strips of cloth associated with priestly office; and an amice, the linen cloth worn at the neck. The chasuble is carved with shallow chevron folds, and the feet, just visible at the base of the slab, wear pointed shoes typical of the period. One detail puzzled Hunt: a circular form near the neckline that might elsewhere indicate a logion, a jewelled ornament sometimes depicted on bishops, but which would have been out of place on a priest of ordinary rank. The slab is much worn, and Hunt noted that the neck area is partly missing, leaving the question unresolved.

The church itself sits in the centre of Gowran, and the slab is visible inside the building. Because it is mounted on the gable wall rather than set into a floor, the full surface can be read at close range, which is relatively unusual for medieval effigial work of this age and condition.