Tombe met zuil in nis 1755 - 1782

Juste Nathan Boucher created this print of a tomb with a pillar in a niche sometime in the 18th century. The print depicts a memorial structure, complete with classical architectural elements, and may have been part of a series intended to inspire new trends in funerary monuments. In 18th-century Europe, death and remembrance became increasingly sentimental, and new styles of memorial art emerged. We can observe the influence of this cultural shift in the print’s allegorical language of neoclassical motifs. The pillar, urn, and niche all evoke the visual vocabulary of ancient Greece and Rome. The tomb is an institution, designed to shape social attitudes toward the afterlife. To understand this print better, we might consult records of funerary art and design from the period, as well as publications on the revival of classicism. The meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.