In winter, it provides a splendid color contrast to the snow and ice on the ground. In summer, it towers over with the pale marble headstones of its neighbors. In any season of the year, the serpent-green pillar mounted on the Bridge family lot at the corner of Fir and Spruce Avenues stands out. Today Mount Auburn continues its historic dual role as a sacred site and pleasure ground, serving as both an active cemetery and a "museum" preserving nearly two centuries of changing attitudes about death and commemoration and changing tastes in architecture and landscape design. Recognized as one of the most significant designed landscapes in the country, Mount Auburn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. The public flocked to the new cemetery and Mount Auburn quickly became the model for the American "rural" cemetery movement. We were also told not to park on the grass at the road edge because they are very particular about keeping things perfect.A Bold New VisionBostonians founded Mount Auburn in 1831 for both practical and aesthetic reasons: to solve an urban land use problem created by an increasing number of burials in the city and to create a tranquil and beautiful place where families could commemorate their loved ones with tasteful works of art in an inviting and natural setting.
Mount auburn cemetery mary baker eddy free#
This cemetery is very large and well maintained,and while we were there a maintenance crew carefully raked the stone walkways free of debris,which surely must be done everyday in the fall. I light painted the scene with about ten pops of the flash.
The only regret I had was not being able to see the place lit inside to show off the stained glass.
Mount auburn cemetery mary baker eddy full#
The building has had a full history of renovations, beginning with a complete dismantling and rebuilding just nine years following construction due to structural problems, a complete interior remodeling in 1923, and the addition of a crematory annex in 1970. The Chapel, constructed of Quincy granite, has served as a non sectarian chapel for funeral and memorial services. The place did not disappoint and this image features the Bigelow Chapel,which is a centerpiece of the cemetery.Originally built in 1846 in a Gothic Revival style, Bigelow Chapel is a central structure illustrating the Mount Auburn Cemetery’s importance of linking a network of building landmarks to the landscape. The foliage was a disaster but my friend Morrie and I took a day to shoot in Mount Auburn cemetery in Massachusetts. I just returned from a four-day trip to shoot fall foliage in new england and this is the first image I am sharing. Eddy’s favorite flower, the morning glory, which opens to the light and closes to the darkness, the lamp of wisdom and a sheaf of wheat. Among the details incorporated into the design are the wild rose, which was Mrs. The Mary Baker Eddy monument has been acknowledged as one of the finest examples of the granite carver’s craft. As an acknowledgement to the harsh New England winter, Bethel, Vermont, white granite was substituted because it withstands the elements significantly better than marble. Originally, the architect specified the monument be constructed of Colorado or Vermont white marble. Swarthout omitted a roof because he felt there should be “nothing between the grave and sky but flowers”. Egerton Swarthout, a New York architect, won the competition in 1914, with a tholos form design of a circular colonnade consisting of 8 columns each 15 feet in height. The Mary Baker Eddy monument does not follow that mold, instead, it was the result of a design competition. Often, monuments and mausolea are designed by the same architect who designed other residences for the family. I must thank my friend Morrie who helped keep my camera dry under an umbrella while I moved around the structure with the flash. Doing so allowed the texture and inscriptions to reveal themselves.
This monument was completely in the dark until I illuminated it with flash.