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i’m doing a 10 page paper for my colonial america class and i need some help. my thesis is that grave art changes with change of religious views. so far i have found a bit of stuff, but i was wondering if anyone could help me with more… i haven’t been able to find much on the religious change in or around 1790 that caused a change in grave art. i have evidence of a change in art, but i’m unsure of the religious reason behind it. please help if you have any ideas….
Hi callutheranchick,
That's an interesting question. What kind of precise artististic changes were made to tombstones around 1790?
In Europe we can see the beginnings of the French Revolution, which included a rebellion against the Church in France. I'm not sure if this would have had an effect on Early American art, though. In America, the Second Great Awakening was a change in religion that began around this time.
Have you considered the possibility that the change in grave art may have been brought about by changes in politics? The US Constitution went into force in 1789, and the Bill of Rights followed soon after. Since feelings of patriotism and religion were much more closely linked during that era, ongoing sentiments at the birth of the nation could very well have translated into changes in religious artwork on graves.
But perhaps Donnie, our resident Colonial expert, can shed some light on religious happenings of the time...?well lets see… from the early 1600’s the grave art was mainly a winged skull, or the angel of death. this was prevalent until around 1735 or so, depending on where you look. rhode island was the first to switch to the cherub, or winged face. after some time, the southern colonies began adapting it to their graves as well. massachusetts was one of the last colonies to make the change. graves found in southern towns in mass. had cherubs earlier than northern towns. i’m not sure if there is a significance with that or not. then in 1790, i found a headstone from mass. that begins the 3rd change. this third change is a weeping willow tree and usually includes an urn. i haven’t researched the significance of this much because i’m not sure if i can include this in my paper, since my class dates to 1789… i’m really hoping my professor will allow me to include the third change because i believe my paper won’t be as strong without it.
I found some information that you may have already seen (or not). The City of the Silent website has a glossary of tombstone symbolism, and it says that the winged skull was common to New England and represented “death and the soul taking flight”, which eventually morphed into the cherub with wings, which I’m guessing is the “winged face” you refer to (the second change). The same site says that the urn merely refers to death, or to the “soul having fled the shrouded body” (NB – the site has a place to ask questions, so they may be able to help you as well with this).
A second site, Cemetary Art and Symbolism, says that the Weeping Willow refers to "Perpetual Mourning". Again, you may have already known what these symbols mean, and are really looking to what caused the change in motifs.
All I can say is that the winged face era coincides with the beginning of the First Great Awakening; perhaps it was ushered in by New Lights who wanted a break from the ascetic and morbid tendencies of the Old Lights or established Puritanical influences in New England. I'm not sure where the winged skull originally came from...you may want to see if it was a style common to late Baroque/Rococco decorative art. The weeping willow might have references to Neoclassicist art which grew in popularity during the latter half of the 18th Century. You may want to ask your professor if any of these ideas are in the ballpark.thank you so much. you are so helpful. i don’t have time to look over those sites right now, but i will probably tomorrow. i was afraid that i wouldn’t be able to use the willow and urn things because my class dates to 1789 and it didn’t appear until 1790, but i spoke with my professor today and she said it was fine to include since it supported my thesis. i found that the second change, to the willow and urn, coincides with the second great awakening. i was wondering if you could give me ideas on what else i could use as primary sources. as of right now my only primary sources are headstones. i think i may need something else to make my point more concrete… i dunno. i can use secondary sources as well, but primary sources are more important. i just have no idea what i would need to look for. if you have any idea, i would greatly appreciate it. although you have done way too much to help already. i cannot begin to thank you enough.
Check out Mark A. Noll: America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln
See also, Alan Heimert: Religion and the American Mind
See also, Martin Marty: Pilgrims in Their Own Land
These secondary sources will help you to understand the religous mentality of the period you are studying.
You might also look up anything by Sacvan Bercovitch, Patricia Bonomi, and Jon Butler. 😀I came across the site for the Old Burial Hill in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and there were some interesting, good quality images of tombstones there, including ones with the skull + wings and then with the willow + urn. Among the sadder epitaphs was one for Mrs. Hannah Nowland (1793):
All you that doth my grave pass by,
As you are now so once was I,
As I am now so you must be,
Prepare for death & follow me.so i’ve been working on my paper for hours, well rather sitting and staring mindlessly at my computer for hours. i think its going pretty well though, i hope so anyway. i’m not too worried though, i’ve done surprisingly well in this class so far and hopefully i’m just overthinking and it really is a good paper… i dunno… i want to thank you both for your help. it has been, well helpful hehe… anyway, i really need to stop this procrastination…. back to the hell that is my paper…
so i finished my paper… it turned out ok i think. i’m hoping its what my teacher wanted, but oh well if its not… hehe it was 15 pages and it was supposed to be 10…. she likes when you do extra stuff.. hehe… well thanks for the help
So what was your final conclusion in the paper? What influenced the change in grave around around 1790?
i decided on the second great awakening and the overall change in religious views of the people. i felt that this was the most influential on the art… who knows.. i could be completely wrong.. but i don’t really care anymore… she told us we didn’t have to be married to our thesis… and i’m so ready for school to be done that i have a feeling of hate for all school… hehe well not really, but i’m sure you know how i feel…
p.s. if you want to read my paper... all 15 pages i'll send it to you... but i don't want to bore you with it.. heheSend me a copy and I’ll post it on my site in the amateur section. I’ll convert it to a PDF file. 😀
my paper sucks… it got like a B- on it.. my professor said it wasn’t an original idea… i also would have to do some editing if i sent it to you…
I found this site on Yahoo Picks – it's a documentation of graves in Cape Cod:http://www.capecodgravestones.com/
