19th Century Mourners - Grace and Beauty in Paris...

For the last days of a hot summer, I visited the Parisian cemeteries of Père-Lachaise and Passy, looking for - and finding - beauty, peace and tranquility in the tree-lined avenues of these two very different, yet equally majestic sites.

Le cimetière du Père-Lachaise is the best known of the two, and although I have visited it on several occasions in the past, there still remain large parts of its extensive grounds to walk around and admire. Admiration and awe seem to be the natural responses to such an expanse of beautiful tombs set amongst grand trees, all of which is pervaded by an indefinable atmosphere.

Due to the fame of a large number of individuals laid to rest here, the cemetery attracts many visitors, some of whom are not entirely respectful in their desire to sightsee - or rather site-see in this case. The mood of the place is somewhat broken by those eager to photo and film themselves in front of the tomb of a 'celebrity' figure, and this is all the more disruptive when tourist groups do the rounds, tramping noisily along the paths and avenues, calling out to each other at every find. Each to his own, I suppose, but I did wonder what Jim Morrison and others would think of all these 21st century goings-on, not to mention the flowers, fripperies, souvenirs and scraps placed on their final resting place...

Oddly, I personally found that the tombs of many well-known figures were often actually a little disappointing and failed to match the illustrious mark that their 'residents' had left during their lives. These graves were often intentionally sober and their use of marble, with its smooth, timeless surface creates a cold, blank expanse that for me at least seems to underline the void of death.

The evocative nature of the now worn, weathered and time-tarnished stone in the countless plots at both Père Lachaise and Passy was far more moving and added beauty and poignancy in equal measure...

Literally crammed with mausoleums, sepulcres, chapels and all kinds of funerary art in its relatively modest grounds, Passy was certainly an incredible experience, with the Eiffel Tower as a backcloth and the avenues and alleys of the cemetery all to myself. Not a tourist in sight! It seemed to offer peace and sanctuary to the living and deceased alike, and yet just beyond its high walls, the hustle of bustle of Paris life went on, undeterred or unaware perhaps of the presence of this city of the dead.

The greenery and gravestones were dappled by sunlight in both cemeteries, and the air of sadness for past loss and the unsurmontable sorrow of those left behind offset by the sense of Life's continual movement forward.

It also struck me that Père Lachaise and Passy, in common with the majority of cemeteries, almost exclusively use the female form to express loss and life, mourning and maternity, turmoil and resignation in sculpted figures of grace and great beauty. The masculine form is not used in the same manner, or certainly not to the same degree, presumably not only for aesthetic reasons but also notions of masculinity...

Some of these mourners are naturally presented as winged angels, eternally grieving and guarding the departed with their gentle presence.

Gazing beyond to another realm or staring downwards, downcast and despondent...

Both angels and the mere mortals clutch symbols of life eternal or those of death; flowers, flames, wreaths and urns as they stand as silent sentinels at the entrance to tombs...

Some tower over passers-by with an almost eerie stance...

Others, consumed by grief, clamber into the sealed mausoleums...

Desperate at their loss, they cannot leave their loved ones...

They wait to enter...

Others have positioned themselves proud and upright...

Others point with calm, collected sadness...

Gently strewing flowers as they shed their tears...

Or throw down their tokens with apparent desolation...

The flow of their tears staining the very statue itself...

Whilst others again droop, utterly bereft...

The depth of sorrow in some of these mourning figures is almost palpable as they weep pitifully...

Their covered faces seems to make this all the more tragic...

Yet other mourners are shrouded, their faces virtually hidden from view behind swathes of clothing...

Mourners and the departed are almost interchangeable, concealed by their shrouds and tears...

I suppose it is a little strange to say that I found my visit to Père Lachaise and Passy uplifting, but in these times of rapidity and rapaciousness being able to take the time to wander around beautiful grounds, surrounded by such art - albeit funerary - is precious. For these are places full of meaning and grace that have lasted far longer than we ever will.