Cemetery art

[Deleted]

I was passing through one of the cemeteries the other day and became fascinated with some of the sculptures and other artwork that people put on tombs.

These pictures are not representative of the best or the worst that Père Lachaise cemetery has to offer, but just some of the things I encountered walking through the cemetery in a generally straight line, in the front entrance and out the back...

Not too far from the entrance, you encounter Félix Faure, a former president. He is just jammed in with all of the other people. There are quite a few tombs with the "dead person lying on top" so he is just one of many.

Some of the ideas are pretty creepy.

Small child kissing cadaver

Corpse falling off tomb

What were these people thinking?

I looked to see if there was any explanation for this pelican on the tomb. I didn't find any, but I'm sure the family had a reason.

---

Some people obviously posed for the sculpture that ended up on their grave. Is that what they had in mind, or did the family just want to get rid of the dust catcher?

---

This is not Batman's tomb.

Another questionable pose

Out by the back exit is Oscar Wilde's tomb, which I find atrocious. The statue is supposed to be "the angel of the bizarre." About every 5 years they decide to replace the angel's manhood, but somebody always chisels it off within about a month. I don't think they have replaced it in a long time.

All of that flat space gave rise to a tradition of kissing the grave with smeary red lipstick, making it even worse. Every side of the tomb is covered with hundreds of lipstick marks.

Then I was out of the cemetery, and I took the bus home.

One of these days I'll go back and do a better tour of the famous graves -- Frédéric Chopin, Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Edith Piaf, etc. In the funerarium for the cremated people (it's like a 5 level shopping mall with some of the levels underground), you can even find Maria Callas in a dim corridor, hiding from her fans.

[Deleted]

Very reminiscent of New Orleans sans the lipstick although I haven't been to Marie Laveau's tomb since the big K.,this is a good excuse to go.

[tillystar]

Cool pictures. I know the Pelican is a symbol of Christ and self-sacrifice so I wonder if this is why it was on this grave?

I took some pics in a cemetary near our house when it snowed last year, I love how it made everything look even more creepy:

[Deleted]

I love crooked gravestones -- always makes me think of the people underneath trying to push their way out and not succeeding... until the next moonless night.

[bixaorellana]

Oh, thanks for this! I love graveyards and have tons of photos of them stashed back in the States. I'll have to dig around to see if I have any here.

Among my favorite graveyards are the one in my home town. That's in Louisiana, which is the what I immediately thought of seeing the pelican above. travelphotobase.com/s/LAV.HTM.

Another one I love is the Key West graveyard. This link: www.floridakeysnews.info/florida-keys-business-7245.html really makes me want to reclaim my own pictures to post here -- they're far better than these.

I can't find anything on the internet worth showing about the Port Isabel, Texas graveyard, which is a must-see for aficionados of cemeteries. It's an amazing collection of folk art -- strange concrete statues of loved ones, a baby crib used to delineate a grave, with constantly renewed toys within it, a huge wooden Jack Daniels bottle, and one of my favorite inscriptions anywhere: "he was too good to live".

[spindrift]

I have a friend whose family coat of arms features a BEAR. There is a fine old stone bear on top of their family grave. Something similar with the Pelican perhaps?

Someone stole the angel on my family grave...

[bixaorellana]

Does anyone remember noticing these markers in graveyards? The article explains that the official Woodmen of the World "tree" markers were discontinued in the 20s, but that local lodges and their members frequently arranged for them nonethless. It seems to me there were still plenty of newish ones around when I was a girl. They always fascinated me.
www.flickr.com/groups/tree_gravestones/

[Deleted]

Walking through the cemetery, I also realized how it was in the old days when you were on a major trip and died for some reason. Bodies could not be shipped around the world like they do in modern times.

[bixaorellana]

I just realized that I'd completely missed the point that these are photo essays. Apologies for the links! I'll do better when I lay my hands on my own pics.

In the meantime ...........
New Orleans is known for its cemeteries. The low ground on which much of the city is built makes it imperative for people to be put in above ground tombs. These are fascinating in their own right, and of course a perfect opportunity for the wealthy & ostentatious to go into frenzies of mourning ornamentation. One of the well-known tombs is that of the Moriarty family. It's topped with four figures -- angels maybe? -- but always pointed out as Faith, Hope, Charity, and Mrs. Moriarty.

[spindrift]

The cemetaries around Kenya are filled with English settlers who died whilst working their farms in the highlands. Beside them lie English soldiers. These graveyards are very well kept.

[palesa]

spindrift, who maintains the cemeteries, is it Kenyan government?

[spindrift]

No, it wouldn't be the Kenyan government. I forget what was written on the notices. Isn't there a war graves commission? Who maintains the military cemetaries in South Africa?

[spindrift]

Thank you, Jazz, I will enjoy that.

[lola]

I think the one falling off the tomb is supposed to be an allegorical figure representing sorrow. Anyway she looks very sad to me.

[Jazz]

Here is a beautiful film of Pere Lachaise...warning, it is about 45 minutes long.

www.candelabratours.com/pere-lachaise-history-paris.html

[Deleted]

Actually, there was one grave at Père Lachaise whose dismal offering made me think that the dear departed had been expected to go straight to hell.

[glow=red,2,300]2 Hot 4 U[/glow]

[Deleted]

I need to get back to Père Lachaise one of these days.

[htmb]

I have never been to Père Lachaise, partly due to my aversion to cemeteries, but I have it on my things list for this trip.

[bjd]

Oh, it's really a pleasant place to go, htmb. In April, when we went to Paris for a wedding, and walked from central Paris back to the apartment in hot weather, along the Seine crowded with people, the next day we went for a walk to Père Lachaise and it was a real pleasure.

Don't forget to get a map from the guardian just at the entrance -- it shows the tomb locations for famous people.

[htmb]

Thanks, bjd! I just might get there this year.