Funerary Art: Public Displays of Private Sentiment

November 3, 2008 · Posted in Public Topics/Private Moments 

Funerary art takes the loss of a dear loved one and shows it with a
piece of art which can be viewed by the entire community.  
Most of us have been through the awful experience of losing someone
dear.  It is a part of life that all of us will have to deal with at
some point.  One way in which we deal with our grief is through
mourning with others at a funeral, and it is usually at this point
that we erect some type of monument to the departed.  If the family is
rich this monument could be an elaborate obelisk, statue or mausoleum
complete with stained glass windows.  If the family is not it is often
more simple, but no less powerful.  Often the monument depicts some
aspect of that persons life that the family or community thinks is
most worthy of remembrance.

This picture is of an approximately life size statue of a father and daughter sitting
in a chair, with the simple haunting inscription “Motherless”.  This
bronze statue sits in front of a crypt for the Mellon family, so we
know that they were very wealthy.   Yet seeing this does not conjure
the common feeling of difference that display of class often does.
One simply sees the misfortune of a father and husband and his
daughter.  It is a representation of an intensely private moment, put
out in a sunny field for all the world (or at least those who climb
the hill in this cemetery) to see.

Sometimes this type of art makes its way out of the graveyard to the
streets, becoming even more intensely public.  The ghost bikes you can
find all over the city are a sobering reminder of mortality.

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