Funerary art
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs, tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and communal memorials. It can play a role in burial rites, serve as an article for use by the dead in the afterlife, and celebrate the life of the deceased.
About Funerary art in brief
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs, tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and communal memorials. It can play a role in burial rites, serve as an article for use by the dead in the afterlife, and celebrate the life and accomplishments of the deceased. It may also function as a reminder of the mortality of humankind, as an expression of cultural values and roles, and help to propitiate the spirits of thedead, maintaining their benevolence and preventing their unwelcome intrusion into the lives of the living. A large group of burials with traces remaining above ground can be called a necropolis; if there are no such visible structures, it is a grave field. A mausoleum is a building erected mainly as a tomb, taking its name from the Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus. Stele is a term for erect stones that are often what are now called gravestones. The word ‘funerary’ strictly means ‘of or pertaining to a funeral or burial’, but there is a long tradition in English of applying it to a wider range of more permanent memorials to the dead, such as war memorials, which may or may not contain remains. Particularly influential in this regard was John Weever’s Ancient Funeralluments, the first full-length book to be dedicated to the subject of tomb memorials and epitaphs. Some scholars have challenged the usage of the term ‘funeral monuments’ because of the use of this distinction during funeral ceremonies.
Others, however, have found this distinction to be “rather pedantic”. Related genres of funeral monuments include the encoffigies, made as temporary substitutes for the corpse during the funeral ceremonies, and the funeral effigies. The deposit of objects with an apparent aesthetic intention is found in almost all cultures. In most instances, specialized funeral art was produced for the powerful and wealthy, although the burials of ordinary people might include simple monuments and grave goods, usually from their possessions. In these cultures, traditions such as the sculpted sarcophagus and tomb monument of the Greek and Roman empires, and later the Christian world, have flourished. A tumulus, mound, kurgan, or long barrow covered important burials in many cultures and the body may be placed in a sarcophagi, usually of stone, or a coffin,usually of wood. A tomb is a general term for any repository for human remains; grave goods are other objects which have been placed within the tomb. In other cultures, nearly all the art connected with the burial was intended for later viewing by the public or at least those admitted by the custodians. A similar division can be seen in grand East Asian tombs. The mausolesum intended for visiting was the grandest type of tomb in the classical world and later common in Islamic culture.
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This page is based on the article Funerary art published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
