Pere Lachaise
Despite my preferral not to, I signed up for a Photobucket account so I can post images here (stupid Blogger). I started work on the book today. Here are some of the images I shot at Pere Lachaise.
I fell in love with this piece of tombstone. Shot probably 40 images of it, in color and b&w. It was on the pedestal of another monument, leaning against the back. I don't know where it belonged, as there were no broken headstones anywhere in the vicinity to match it to. I love that it was just leaning there, by itself, with ivy growing nearby. Next year, the ivy will have curled around it.
I loved this ornate metal cross. The three in a diagonal row just look neat.
I was mostly taking general pictures of the cemetery, down roads, across graves, that kind of thing. One tomb door was standing wide open, and there were two little prayer benches inside which were obviously once very expensive. Now they're ruined, so I was curious as to how long it had been since the crypt had been utilized, and stepped inside to have a look, as the last interment date was behind the door. It was 1932 or 33, which explains the sad disrepair of the benches. It's a horrible shame. They were once quite elaborate and upholstered in some kind of heavy black fabric that looked like velvet jacquard. Vandals often use Pere Lachaise for rituals, and they have a habit of abusing tombs to do so. Someone left the doors to this one open after breaking in, so the birds have roosted and the weather has destroyed the benches. That alone is bad enough, but on top of it, this once beautiful ceiling has also been destroyed.
It's a tragedy, really. It was obvious a lot of money had gone into it. Interestingly, that's Marie-Antoinette's monogram in the center, the M and A intertwined. The name on the tomb is Nortier, and ther first interment was in 1881, somewhat late for the Revolution, but perhaps the Nortiers were descended from Maire-Antoinette's line...or were merely still loyal to the aristocracy 100 years later.
Unfortunately, blogger seems to have crummed out on me again, so I'll have to post this image later.
Jenie
I fell in love with this piece of tombstone. Shot probably 40 images of it, in color and b&w. It was on the pedestal of another monument, leaning against the back. I don't know where it belonged, as there were no broken headstones anywhere in the vicinity to match it to. I love that it was just leaning there, by itself, with ivy growing nearby. Next year, the ivy will have curled around it.
I loved this ornate metal cross. The three in a diagonal row just look neat.
I was mostly taking general pictures of the cemetery, down roads, across graves, that kind of thing. One tomb door was standing wide open, and there were two little prayer benches inside which were obviously once very expensive. Now they're ruined, so I was curious as to how long it had been since the crypt had been utilized, and stepped inside to have a look, as the last interment date was behind the door. It was 1932 or 33, which explains the sad disrepair of the benches. It's a horrible shame. They were once quite elaborate and upholstered in some kind of heavy black fabric that looked like velvet jacquard. Vandals often use Pere Lachaise for rituals, and they have a habit of abusing tombs to do so. Someone left the doors to this one open after breaking in, so the birds have roosted and the weather has destroyed the benches. That alone is bad enough, but on top of it, this once beautiful ceiling has also been destroyed.
It's a tragedy, really. It was obvious a lot of money had gone into it. Interestingly, that's Marie-Antoinette's monogram in the center, the M and A intertwined. The name on the tomb is Nortier, and ther first interment was in 1881, somewhat late for the Revolution, but perhaps the Nortiers were descended from Maire-Antoinette's line...or were merely still loyal to the aristocracy 100 years later.
Unfortunately, blogger seems to have crummed out on me again, so I'll have to post this image later.
Jenie
posted by Jenie at 7:02 PM
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