Monuments
Unlike many modern cemeteries, where the gravemarkers are carved from granite (which is more durable), most of the decorative monuments at Old Gray are carved from marble. While not as durable as granite, marble is softer, and thus lends itself to more elaborate designs. Victorian angels—guardians of the dead—are the most common type of sculpture. Obelisks—which were popular grave monuments during the late 19th-century—are also found throughout the cemetery. Other notable markers include Woodmen of the World monuments—carved to depict undressed tree logs—where were given to the order's members as part of a life insurance policy. Elaborate crosses are also common, including several celtic crosses.
One of the most notable sculptures is the Horne monument, which is a near life-size statue of a Confederate soldier guarding the graves of Confederate veterans William and John Horne. A statue carved by Italian sculptor Antonio Bebelotti graces the graves of the parents of art collector Eleanor Swan Audigier, who obtained the statue while living in Rome. The obelisk of Frank S. Mead, carved by Knoxville sculptor D. H. Geddes, was used on advertisements by Mead's marble company.
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Famous quotes containing the word monuments:
“If the Revolution has the right to destroy bridges and art monuments whenever necessary, it will stop still less from laying its hand on any tendency in art which, no matter how great its achievement in form, threatens to disintegrate the revolutionary environment or to arouse the internal forces of the Revolution, that is, the proletariat, the peasantry and the intelligentsia, to a hostile opposition to one another. Our standard is, clearly, political, imperative and intolerant.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)