On Funeral Art

My Father in Laws Memorial service was held this past Saturday. It was a dignified solemn affair complete with Military honors. I did not take any pictures as I wanted to experience this important time as an active participant as opposed to a photo journalist.

 But I remember looking at some paintings of Russian Art and I had noticed the amount of detail and attention given to the documentation of this communal event. As I searched the internet I did not find a whole lot written on the topic of Art and Funerals. Probably the most painted images of a Death is Christ on a cross painted from Catacomb times to the present , although not as much these days. Probably Dali is the last major artist to paint Christ on the cross. But this is not a funeral which is a communal event. In fact , Christ was rushed into the tomb so that a funeral was really never held per se in the custom of the time.

 I remember seeing El Greco's painting of the Funeral of the Count of Orgaz. Funerals back then , if they involved someone important brought not only the whole community but dignitaries and local leaders to honor the deceased in a public show of respect and pomp. Count Orgaz was not simply going to be worm food but was to pass on to the heavenly hosts painted above the portraits of the local
noblemen. He was to join Mary and Jesus and the host of Saints and Angels into the next Life as real and dimensional as the one he had just left. One is struck by the respect given to the deceased as the clothing and reverence is apparent in El Grecos powerful portrayal.

 Any painting involving so many figures takes the artist a good deal of time to lay out a strong composition and then arrange and paint the towns people. It is a monumental effort worthy of any treck up to a Himylayan Mountain.

 As I scouted the internet I started to notice the evolution of the funeral down through the centuries.

 This painting is of the funeral of Jerome. The rigidity of the attendees and the straight ahead perspective gives this painting a very strict monastic feel.

 The Roman Church is prominent in many paintings before Darwinism shook the confidence in the power of a literal interpretation of the Bible and a sense of ritual and liturgy is always present if not fully evident in funeral paintings.

 I like this painting of a Viking funeral. You would expect that these seafaring souls would give last rites at sea and introduce the body back to its Mother Ocean where so much of this culture had its identity.

 This painting has a more Protestant feel and the clothing is still respectful and austere . The focus is on the Father as he holds the young girls hand. The mourners trail. Had he lost a wife? We see in this painting a glimpse of the pastoral cemetary marked by the tombstones. Dust you were and to dust you shall return.

 

 This is a painting by Manet. It seems that the focus is more on the landscape behind the funeral procession than on the service. Could it be that a sense of the hereafter was starting to lose its power and the sense that Heaven or Hell were really only imagined fairy lands?

 This painting is called a Highland Funeral. My guess it either Irish or Scottish. Here again we see a Protestant ceremony and one cannot help but feel that these men all work the land. Life is hard and the deceased has died during Winter. A hard time indeed. We see an old man close to the right. Had he lost a good wife ?

 Here we see a funeral where it seems that a loved one has been buried in someones back yard possibly near another grave site. Infant mortality was very high and death was ever present when communities were settling the earth. There is a quiet stoicism in this portrayal. Death was all too common. A form of resignation has entered the picture. But here , a pastor reads the Word to comfort his people.

 This painting sets a trend for what Modern Funerals would become. It is a painting of Victor Hugo's Funeral procession. He wrote Les Miserables and the Hunch Back of Notre Dame among others. There is a carnival sense to this event and one could almost here someone selling pictures or books by Victor Hugo. Celebrity is larger than Jesus here and the common people get on ladders to look at the casket that moves across in the background. I am reminded of Michael Jackson's funeral which came across to me more as an excuse to feature rock stars and their talents. In fact , Michael Jackson seems to replace Jesus.

 I am amazed that artists have taken the time and patience to paint a sacred moment. Hopefully , some of these images will give you a sense that somethings should remain sacred and solemn. Not necessarily maudlin and sad events but ceremonies that convey Hope. This World is not my Home... I'm just a passing through.