Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington DC
February 24, 2019
Rock Creek Cemetery is an 86-acre rural cemetery in Washington DC with some very haunting sculptures. With so many outstanding works registered with the Smithsonian’s Save Outdoor Sculpture initiative, it would be foolish to think that I wouldn’t drive the hour south from Baltimore to see some the gorgeous aged patina.
Stoned ladies.
Four tremendous spectacular angelic caryatids guard the Heurich Mausoleum, the final resting place of a family of German immigrants who made it big in the area as brewers. Residing in Dupont Circle in the beautiful Brewmaster’s Castle (now a museum) in life, their mausoleum had ornate details like Tiffany stained glass and these lovely angels. In the crypt in German: In Tiefem Schmerz Kein Weltweishein Fürs Herz [Deep Pain, (There is) no Worldly Wisdom for the Heart] (source)
Though stout and strong, I loved their soft faces and delicate hands
So you’ll aim toward the sky
And you’ll rise high today
Fly away
Far away
Far from pain
Some of the old graves. The cemetery was established in the 1700s. Close to the first European colony, these are remnants of a shift of customs involving the death, the land and man’s relationship with both.
A sucker for a curve in the road: that can be me in a nutshell.
The Thomas Trueman-Gaff monument reaches out.
He’s greeting his end calmly as if he recognizes it from somewhere. “You over there! Why it’s me!”
The epitome of why I love old cemeteries. They hold time in physical form, in the drip of oxidation, the chemical reactions. Ah, life and its chemical reactions so beautiful!
Reminds me of Green-Wood
She is a robust lady of the cemetery. She looks like she would hug well. Teehee, I have never described anyone in that fashion.
Mini angels on a casket of bronze
Sculpted cloaks are sometimes described as an evocation of special lady parts. What says you?
Anchor me here for good.
It is one crinkle in the brow that conveys a whole new emotion.
Reach out. At Rabboni-Ffoulke Memorial, the grave marker of Charles Matthews Ffoulke, prominent banker man.
The marker reads “Rabboni” which is a biblical term meaning Master. But she is Mary Magdalene, Jesus’s friend. This sculpture depicts when she saw that he had been resurrected. She’s like “OMG!”
Time warped her expression and has her looking a bit wicked.
Such bright colors
The Kauffmann Memorial was interactive, inviting you to sit and stay a while. Your sitting companion would be the representation of Memory. working on a wreath in an effort to distract herself.
I’ve never seen such an interesting face.
My time with Memory.
Together, remembering.
This is a patina power couple.
A typical monument but untypical detail and beauty
Finally, the Adams Memorial. Surrounded by thick landscaped hedges, this androgynos depiction of grief marks the resting place of Henry Adams and his wife Marian “Clover” Hooper Adams. A very established and intriguing woman, read here, she suffered from mental illness and committed suicide, poisoning herself at age 42 with the chemicals she used to develop her photographs. Her husband would never speak her name again. Did you read this yet? So fascinating!
The official name of the monument, as named by its creator, The Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace of God that Passeth Understanding. It is one of a group of monuments referred to as “Black Aggies,” characteristically seated and covered in draped cloak with a face potent with interpretative intensity. (Like this guy!)
This face: What a way to end my trip to the cemetery. An amazing place to spend a rainy afternoon in Washington DC.
