Design for a mausoleum in a landscape
Not on view
In the mid-nineteenth century, urban Americans dramatically altered their burial practices. In response to overcrowded churchyards and sanitation concerns, burying grounds were increasingly moved outside city limits. Designed as picturesque garden landscapes, these new rural cemeteries provided opportunities for commissions of memorial art, which was often rendered in classical, Gothic, and Egyptian styles. Gothic architecture, with its ecclesiastical origins, was seen as an especially appropriate mode to convey religious sentiment. Set high on a hill against a backdrop of dark cypresses, this watercolor depiction of a Gothic Revival ciborium, or canopy, reflects both the park cemetery and architectural movements of the nineteenth century.
