"...So he took his wings and fled:
Then the morn blush'd rosy red:
I dried my tears & armed my fears,
With ten thousand shields and spears..."
The Angel (fragm.), William Blake
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| Ely, Beech Ln Cemetery |
Te kamienne maszkary są nieodłącznym elementem cmentarnego krajobrazu w całej Europie. "Płaczące Anioły" to w zasadzie specyficzny styl rzeźby sepulkralnej. Posągi sfotografowane przeze mnie w angielskim hrabstwie Cambridge pochodzą z pierwszej połowy XX wieku.
These stone monsters are inherent elements of the cemetery landscape all over Europe. In principle, "Weeping Angels" are a specific style of sepulchral sculpture. The statues I photographed in Cambridgeshire came from the first half of the XXth century.
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| Fordham, St Peter's churchyard |
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| Ely, Beech Ln Cemetery |
W Europie do lat trzydziestych XIX wieku szczątki ludzkie grzebano na dziedzińcach kościołów parafialnych, co zresztą w Anglii praktykuje się gdzieniegdzie do dziś. Moda na cmentarze w Anglii rozpowszechniła się mniej więcej wraz z nastaniem epoki wiktoriańskiej [Rutherford: 2008]. Pierwsze cmentarze projektowali znakomici architekci krajobrazu tacy jak John Claudius Loudon (zwany "ojcem ogrodu angielskiego", zaprojektował on m.in Derby Arboretum - pierwszy angielski publiczny park oraz mocno podupadły obecnie Histon Road Cemetery w Cambridge) czy Joseph Paxton (projektant Pałacu Kryształowego w Hyde Parku). Listę zabytkowych cmentarzy w Anglii znajdziemy w publikacjach English Heritage [EH Leaflet].
In Europe before the third decade of the XIX century, human remains were buried in parish churchyards, which is still practiced here and there in England nowadays. Cemeteries came into fashion in England more or less at the beginning of the Victorian era [Rutherford: 2008] The first cemeteries were designed by notable landscape architects such as John Claudius Loudon (described as "father of the English garden" who, inter alia, designed Derby Arboretum - the first English public park - and the severely declined at present Histon Road Cemetery in Cambridge). The list of monumental cemeteries can be find in English Heritage publications [EH Leaflet].
In Europe before the third decade of the XIX century, human remains were buried in parish churchyards, which is still practiced here and there in England nowadays. Cemeteries came into fashion in England more or less at the beginning of the Victorian era [Rutherford: 2008] The first cemeteries were designed by notable landscape architects such as John Claudius Loudon (described as "father of the English garden" who, inter alia, designed Derby Arboretum - the first English public park - and the severely declined at present Histon Road Cemetery in Cambridge). The list of monumental cemeteries can be find in English Heritage publications [EH Leaflet].
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| Sutton-on-the-Isle, St Andrew's church graveyard |
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| Ely, Beech Ln Cemetery |
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| Impington, St Andrew's churchyard |
Anioły w hrabstwie Cambridge wznoszone były w dobie upadku ery wiktoriańskiej i należą raczej do poetyki dekadentyzmu. Zaczęły się pojawiać w czasie gdy idea cmentarza-ogrodu odchodziła w zapomnienie.
Angels in Cambridgeshire were erected at the time of the decline of the Victorian era and they belong rather to the Decadent movement poetics. They were introduced at the time when the idea of garden cemeteries was falling into oblivion.
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| Cambridge, All Saints Ln burial ground |
Nie opisałam tu znaczenia anielskich atrybutów takich jak trąbki czy lilje etc. Szalenie ciekawy i wart uwagi wydał mi się natomiast wątek powielania anielskich przedstawień opisany przez włoskiego historyka sztuki Franco Sborgi. Anioły wznoszone jako spersonalizowane pomniki odzwierciedlające klimat epoki symbolizmu w miarę przybywania duplikatów w popularnej wyobraźni kończyły zazwyczaj jako konwencjonalne znaki pamięci o zmarłych [Sborgi: 2004]. Ewidentny przykład chyba najsłynniejszego, kopiowanego w nieskończoność anioła znalazłam na Newmarket Road Cemetery w Cambridge. Jest to nieznacznie zmodyfikowana kopia dzieła włoskiego rzeźbiarza Giulio Monteverde z 1882 roku (nagrobek Francesco Oneto na cimitero di Staglieno di Genova). Angielska kopia do obejrzenia na zdjęciu poniżej.
I have described here no meaning of angelic atributes such as trumpets or lily flowers etc. Instead I mention here an extremely interesting and attention worth motif of reproduction of angelic representations as was described by the Italian art historian Franco Sborgi. Angels that were erected as personalised monuments, reflecting the era of Symbolism, ended up as conventional signs of remembrance by being duplicated in vast numbers [Sborgi: 2004]. The evident example of probably the most commonly reproduced angel I found at Newmarket Road Cemetery in Cambridge. It is a slightly modified copy of the work of the Italian sculptor Giulio Monteverde from AD 1882 (tomb of Francesco Oneto at cimitero di Staglieno di Genova). The English copy is presented on the photo below.
I have described here no meaning of angelic atributes such as trumpets or lily flowers etc. Instead I mention here an extremely interesting and attention worth motif of reproduction of angelic representations as was described by the Italian art historian Franco Sborgi. Angels that were erected as personalised monuments, reflecting the era of Symbolism, ended up as conventional signs of remembrance by being duplicated in vast numbers [Sborgi: 2004]. The evident example of probably the most commonly reproduced angel I found at Newmarket Road Cemetery in Cambridge. It is a slightly modified copy of the work of the Italian sculptor Giulio Monteverde from AD 1882 (tomb of Francesco Oneto at cimitero di Staglieno di Genova). The English copy is presented on the photo below.
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| Cambridge, N'kt Rd Cemetery |
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| Ely, Beech Ln Cemetery |
Obecnie w Anglii modne jest dekorowanie mogił miniaturowymi, ceramicznymi "cherubinami ogrodowymi". Ale to już inna historia.
Nowadays in England it is trendy to decorate graves with tiny, ceramic "garden cherubs". However that is a different story.
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| Cambridge, Mill Rd Cemetery |
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| Cambridge, N'kt Rd Cemetery |
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| Cambridge, N'kt Rd Cemetery |
Źródła/Sources:
- English Heritage's Leaflet, Paradise Preserved: Registered cemeteries in date order with notes on principal reasons for designation and designers and architects, available on: http://www.helm.org.uk/upload/pdf/registered-cemeteries-date-order.pdf
- Rutherford Sarah, 2008, The Victorian Cemetery, Shire Publications: Oxford
- Sborgi Franco, 2004, Companions on the Final Journey. Reflections on the image of the angel in funerary sculpture during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in: Sandra Berresford (ed.), Italian memorial sculpture, 1820-1940: a legacy of love, Frances Lincoln Limited: London
