Art of the Grave - Esther

It’s hardly surprising but over the past year of increased screen-time, my eyesight has deteriorated. With or without glasses, it’s getting harder to see. This was apparent when binge-watching French detective series Spiral over this particular lockdown. They like to show drone shots over Paris from time to time & more than once showed an aerial view of what looked like a car park. As the camera slowly moved in, it was revealed in fact to be a cemetery. 

I think I could be forgiven for this mistake however (eyesight notwithstanding), since my idea of graveyards in Paris is Père Lachaise, a ramshackle maze with streets, where nothing matches & the tombstones are as diverse as the individuals beneath. It’s like the Gardens of Babylon mixed with a set for Dracula. My first visit to Père Lachaise was to visit the celebrity graves: Jim Morrison (primarily), Oscar Wilde that I knew of although I happened upon Edith Piaf (modest, given the context), Max Ernst (barely there) & Eugène Delacroix (large but sober). Père Lachaise is a city for the dead. It has architecture.

But not all graveyards are the same. Even in the same city, they sometimes look like a car park.

It is fascinating to see how various cultures & religions celebrate their dead & how the construction of the necropolis differs across the world but just as fascinating is the accompanying decoration & embellishment as signs of remembrance. From my own experience & pictures, the features of (for the purposes of today’s blog, mainly Christian) gravestones vary in intensity & prevalence across Europe & throughout history. But what do they symbolise?

Skull

I like a skull & I like the way it’s been appropriated into mainstream culture. After all, we all have one & carry it around at all times. The skulls that appear in my own art were once described as “footholds for Satan” by a stranger on the internet but that attitude is unusual nowadays. Besides, unbeknownst to her, that’s probably one of the coolest reviews I’ve had. In any case, on a gravestone, it’s not difficult to see what they’re trying to teach us. They don’t so much commemorate the deceased as remind you of your own inevitable demise. Sometimes they come with their whole skeleton to personify death, sometimes they have wings denoting the journey to the after life & other times they top crossed bones. On other stones, they are part of a memento mori – “remember you must die.” No matter how it’s presented, a skull is reminding you you’re for the off.

Bear

At other times, the symbols might be heraldic or represent the place & the deceased’s connection with it as in this Berlin Bear. Of course in more modern times, a very different bear – of the teddy persuasion - is often used to commemorate a child who has died. It seems today, we are more keen to remember the individual than to beat the viewer over the head with their sinful ways & remind them of where they are going next. The gravestones & graveyards of today may not be as interesting, elaborate or attractive, but they seem to serve a kinder, more personal purpose. 

Winged head

Some gravestones have a winged head rather than an obvious skull, which could represent cherubs, perhaps guarding the soul on its way to heaven.

Hourglass

Again, your time’s up. If it’s a winged hourglass, it’s almost as simple as “time flies” – life is fleeting & don’t you forget it.

Urn 

Urns seem to have been a very popular Victorian graveyard symbol round here. In ancient Greece an urn signified grief as well as a “vessel for the soul.” Literally it’s the receptacle for one’s ashes, symbolically it reminds us that we will return to the dust we came from. On some headstones, an urn is even draped in “the final curtain…” 

Cross 

The cross may symbolise the resurrection as well as faith in eternal life. Is this for the benefit of the deceased or a reminder for the living? If it is on three steps, the cross might additionally indicate faith, hope & charity/love. The Celtic cross, common in Ireland, Scotland & Wales & often patterned with Celtic knotwork possesses added significance with the circle at the centre, to indicate time without end. 

Circle

Because of the many special properties of the circle as a two-dimensional shape, it is appropriated in many cultures & religions for numerous purposes. Here we see it as another symbol of eternity & resurrection. In Christian graves, there may also be a cross within the circle.

Crown

In general a crown will often represent the triumph of life over death. In addition the crown may appear with accompanying symbols, which can denote a mason’s grave. Often a crown will appear with a cross inside it or a finger pointing up towards heaven underneath it.

Obelisk

Although - being based on monuments of the ancient world - they were considered tasteful I find obelisks to be an oddly common, weirdly exotic & showy type of gravestone. Despite liking the look of them, it’s as if they don’t belong. But they can symbolise heaven or the rays of the sun falling on the departed (ancient Egyptians built obelisks in worship of Osiris the sun god). On a practical level, they were cheaper to make & took up less space by expanding vertically. They are not to be confused with the classical broken pillar, which may mean a life cut short…

This gravestone in Banff’s Old St Mary’s Cemetery has all but the kitchen sink, including a coffin & a bell. In Scotland, a “deid bell” might be rung by hand in a funeral march or to inform the town of a death. It served the dual purpose of frightening off evil spirits & of eliciting prayers for the deceased.

It seems fitting on an arty blog to show one of the plainer but art-related graves inside Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk. Here is the grave of Saskia who appeared in some of Rembrandt’s most famous works; she was his wife & muse & as simple as his love for her seems to have been, so is her monument.