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The Graves of Montparnasse Cemetery
by Patti Cassidy
To an American, spending an afternoon in a
cemetery reeks of the macabre. To a Parisian, though, it's another
cultural option. Cemeteries there are filled not only with the graves
of the famous, but also with beautiful landscaping and outstanding
memorial sculpture. Residents of the city have even been known to
picnic among the haunting acres of Pere Lachaise Cemetery.
But it is the much smaller Montparnasse in the 14th
arrondissement that is most seductive. It is divided into two sections,
the old and the new, covering 45 acres of three former farms. Because
of its location, it evolved into the final resting place for both
artists and the bourgeoisie.
From the fanciful abstract bird made of
glass and wire that rises above a crowded section of graves, to the
solid and weighty grieving figure of the artist Henri Lauren, all types
of sculpture are included here. The grave of the poet Baudelaire, for
example, is haunting with its gargoyle figure resting on a pedestal
contemplating death in the form of a wrapped figure below — the
form of his own mother, who shares the grave, perhaps. The most
heartbreaking monument in the cemetery is called “Separation of a
Couple”. In it, the figure of a woman strains to rise from her
grave to comfort her lover who stands above her, face in hands,
mourning her.
In the “old” section of the
cemetery across the Rue Emile Richard, a lovely edition of Bracusi's
statue, “The Kiss” marks the grave of Tania Rachevski, a
suicide. Its sparse lines and aching union of two lovers is especially
poignant in this setting, where the sun sets and snow gathers on it in
winter.
Along the far side of this area of
Montparnasse, the grave of Julio Ruelas is marked by the figure of a
woman draped over a high rock. Her arms are outstretched; her hair
flows like tears. Is she dead, or only mourning the occupant of the
grave below her?
But not all graves are somber. A few yards
away from “The Kiss” stands the humorous grave of the
Pigeons, an inventor and his wife. It consists of a massive bronze bed
in which Mrs. Pigeon lies soundly asleep while Charles, ever vigilant,
watches passersby while propped up on his arm. Both of them are fully
clothed, as all good middle class citizens should be, even in death. An
angel stands atop the headboard guarding both of the old souls.
The graves fascinate for hours, and spending a whole day among the dead
is both intriguing and thought provoking.
 Click here to read David Emanuel's feature on the Montparnasse Cemetery.
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