A Hidden Love Story

Tomb Effigy of Elizabeth Boott Duveneck by Frank Duveneck 

Recently I paid a visit to my favorite museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Anyone who has ever been to the MET knows that it is HUGE and that it takes forever to look at every single piece of art that the museum has. So I concentrated most of my time in the American Art and Sculpture Department. The one sculpture that really caught my attention was Frank Duveneck’s Tomb Effigy of Elizabeth Boott Duveneck. When I initially saw the sculpture, I did not think that it was a tomb at all. The woman looked like she was dreaming and seemed perfectly content. According to the description, Frank Duveneck made the sculpture after the death of his wife Elizabeth. The palm branch that is draped over her is meant to symbolize her eternal life.

I think its beautiful that Duveneck loved his wife so much that he sculpted a monument as a tribute to  her. Upon first looking at this artwork, few people would probably associate the funeral monument with such an interesting love story.