Title: Death and architecture : an introduction to funerary and commemorative buildings in the Western European tradition, with some consideration of their settings /
Authors: Curl, James Stevens, 1937-
Publisher: Sutton,
Year: 2002
Subjects: Sepulchral monuments Europe.; Tombs Europe.; Cemeteries Europe.; Funeral rites and ceremonies Europe.
Abstract: "Professor Curl demonstrates that in fact death has inspired some of the noblest monumental buildings ever conceived in the West, and his text is judiciously fashioned to this end." "Death and Architecture will interest many people, and it is not aimed at a specialist market. This book emphasises the importance of funerary architecture in the development of architectural style."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: The importance of the architecture and artefacts of death in ancient cultures -- The buildings, cemeteries, gardens, and sculptures associated with death in the Graeco-Roman world -- The flowering of funerary art in the Middle Ages -- The Renaissance and Baroque periods of funerary architecture associated with churches, and their aftermath -- The burial crisis; overcrowded churchyards; the first fruits of reform; and the first modern cemeteries -- Mausolea and other buildings to celebrate death, from the Renaissance period to the twentieth century -- The development of cemeteries in Great Britain in the nineteenth century -- John Claudius Loudon and the Garden Cemetery Movement -- Other great nineteenth-century cemeteries in Europe, America, and Australia -- Problems of disposal : the development of cremation and of buildings associated with the burning of the dead -- War cemeteries and memorials -- Some grander buildings to celebrate individuals and national events -- Epilogue.