Tombe met drie vazen 1771

Claude-Antoine Littret de Montigny rendered this drawing, "Tomb with Three Vases," with pen and gray ink, accentuating it with gray wash. Death and how it is memorialized can tell us so much about a culture. Here, we see a body laid out in repose, reminiscent of ancient classical sculpture. The body is framed with architectural motifs and decorative garlands of oak leaves. In ancient Greece, oak leaves were associated with Zeus, who could bestow honor and grant wishes. The drawing feels removed from the immediate emotionality of loss, instead emphasizing the symbolic and the aesthetic dimensions of death. It prompts us to consider the rituals and representations a society uses to negotiate grief and ensure remembrance. It evokes questions about who is remembered, and how.