MATERIAL TIME The Art of Mourning in Early Modern Europe

In early modern Europe the making of commemorative monuments for the deceased is a common and standardized practice with specific samples. Prevalently it is the wives task to in agreement with the dying attend to the memorials and thus prepare for death. The commemorative monuments are not only due to yoke the time present and hope for an era of grace in afterlife. Often the figures of chubby child-angels point to the cycle of birth, death an rebirth. Moreover the monument-makers not only try to visualize the artistic embodiment in religious context, but also the deceased as an individual.