Graftombes in het Camposanto te Genua c. 1866

This albumen print shows graftombes, or grave tombs, in the Camposanto in Genoa. Two angels appear, one kneeling in grief, another standing, reading from a book. Angels are messengers between the earthly and the divine. These figures are potent symbols of mourning and remembrance. We see the motif of the grieving angel echoed throughout history. Consider the ancient Greek tradition of mourning figures carved into funerary stelae. Similarly, the angel with a book speaks to the importance of the written word in remembrance, akin to the inscribed epitaphs on ancient tombstones. The cyclical return of these symbols highlights our shared human experience of loss. These monuments serve as a reminder of our mortality but also of our capacity to find solace in symbols that transcend time. These symbols resonate because they tap into our deepest fears and hopes about death and the afterlife.