{"id":359,"date":"2006-07-13T16:00:26","date_gmt":"2006-07-13T23:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/2006\/07\/13\/cemetery-iconography-and-designing-bronislawas-monument\/"},"modified":"2019-02-18T14:02:19","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T22:02:19","slug":"cemetery-iconography-and-designing-bronislawas-monument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/359","title":{"rendered":"Cemetery Iconography and Designing Bronis\u0142awa&#8217;s Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The first burial in what would become a shared grave for my Aunt Bronis\u0142awa was made in 1912.&nbsp; Now, 94 years later, a monument will be erected on the grave.&nbsp; I have thought long and hard about how to design the monument for this grave.&nbsp; The questions I considered were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What iconography should be on the monument?<\/li><li>Should the complete dates or just the years of birth and death be included on the monument?<\/li><li>Should some prayer or other inscription be included?<\/li><li>Should anything be written on the back of the monument?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Iconography is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>the science of identification, description, classification, and interpretation of symbols, themes, and subject matter in the visual arts.<\/p><p>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/art\/iconography\">Encyclopedia Brittanica<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In reference to cemeteries, iconography usually refers to the images inscribed on tombstones and the meanings behind those images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modern iconography sometimes uses images that reflect important events or hobbies in the life of the deceased, such as the image of a pair of wedding rings or a picture of a man fishing.&nbsp; Modern iconography also extends to images of the deceased or images of the church they attended.&nbsp; A common icon for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) is a picture of the temple in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More traditional iconography, however, may require additional interpretation.&nbsp; Many older icons are seldom used today.&nbsp; A weeping willow signifies mourning; roses represent the brevity of life; oak leaves and acorns mean a ripe old age; butterflies represent an early death.&nbsp; An angel trumpeting indicates the resurrection, while an angel weeping means mourning.&nbsp; A bird represents eternal life, and a flying bird means resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Often, an icon can have different meanings for different persons.&nbsp; In one case, an anchor may be used to indicate hope, while in another case an anchor can mean that the deceased was a seaman.&nbsp; Specific types of trees can be used to mean different things:&nbsp; an apple tree represents love, a cypress tree means faithfulness, and an olive tree indicates wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And sometimes, the icons on a gravestone mean nothing at all.&nbsp; Someone may have selected an image simply because they liked the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In selecting the iconography and design for the monument for my Aunt Bronis\u0142awa and the other two infants buried with her, I took into consideration the size limitations imposed by the cemetery and the style of the other monuments nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a class=\"imagelink\" href=\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/Monument_Front.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/Monument_Front.jpg\" alt=\"Monument Front\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Front of Monument<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the information on three individuals could make the monument rather busy, I decided to keep the inscription simple (remember, this is a headstone for a single grave, not a grave intended for three people).&nbsp; I decided to include the name of each child followed by the years, not the entire dates, of birth and death.&nbsp; On the front I decided to include the icon of a lamb with a cross to symbolize the innocence of the children when they died and the Roman Catholic faith of the families.&nbsp; I also decided to include an inscription I had seen on many graves in Poland:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>JEZU UFAMY TOBIE<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>meaning: &nbsp;<em>Jesus, We Trust&nbsp;to You<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a class=\"imagelink\" href=\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/Monument_Back.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/Monument_Back.jpg\" alt=\"Monument Back\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, I added the surnames of the three children to the back of the monument, so it could be easily found when approaching from either direction.<em>Back of Monument<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the design is not finalized, I did receive the <a id=\"p362\" href=\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/Monument_20060713151709.pdf\">proofs<\/a> of the design today.&nbsp; I made a few comments and expect to receive the revised proofs in a few days.&nbsp; I&#8217;m rather happy with the design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further information on cemetery iconography, check out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>George Morgan&#8217;s article on <a href=\"https:\/\/lists.rootsweb.com\/hyperkitty\/list\/tovrea@rootsweb.com\/thread\/14882251\/\"><em>Cemetery Iconography<\/em><\/a><\/li><li>Pam Reid&#8217;s Article on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=n_b5osIkhfYC&amp;lpg=PA20&amp;dq=Pam%20Reid%20Cemetery%20Art%20and%20Symbolism&amp;pg=PA20#v=onepage&amp;q=Pam%20Reid%20Cemetery%20Art%20and%20Symbolism&amp;f=false\"><em>Cemetery Symbolism<\/em><\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If a book-length work interests you, try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books\/about\/Stories_in_Stone.html?id=PpIZEEqB4y4C\">Stories in Stone<\/a>:&nbsp; A Field Guide to Cemetery Iconography and Symbolism<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Soul-Stone-Cemetery-Americas-Heartland\/dp\/0700606343\">Soul in the Stone<\/a>: Cemetery Art&nbsp;from America&#8217;s Heartland<\/li><li><a title=\"Graven Images\" href=\"http:\/\/www.upne.com\/0-8195-6040-5.html\">Graven Images<\/a>: New England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1650-1815.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, if you&#8217;d rather listen than read, check out the <a href=\"http:\/\/genealogyguys.com\/the_genealogy_guys_podcast_30_october_2005\">Halloween 2005<\/a> edition of The Genealogy Guys Podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">Copyright \u00a9 2006-2019 by Stephen J. Danko<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first burial in what would become a shared grave for my Aunt Bronis\u0142awa was made in 1912.&nbsp; Now, 94 years later, a monument will be erected on the grave.&nbsp; I have thought long and hard about how to design &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/359\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30],"tags":[218],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-danko","tag-notre-dame-cemetery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pyBfX-5N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21248,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/21248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}