the Art of Memory museum in the garden
Before the Boston Museum of Fine Arts opened its doors in 1876, visitors came to Mount Auburn Cemetery to see the art of the sculptor. Although there were private collections in Boston and new sculpture galleries available to members of the Boston Athenaeum, Mount Auburn provided an opportunity for the public to view sculpture in an outdoor environment. The Cemetery includes important examples of fine art by the first generation of American sculptors. Their commemorative works, together with monuments created by local stone carvers, form an extraordinary collection of funerary art, and stimulated the development of a growing monument industry. Mount Auburn was transformed by mid-century into a“ museum without walls,” and was often referred to as a sculptured garden.
Thomas Handasyd Perkins,( 1764 – 1854), Lot 108 Central Avenue
Photo, Jennifer Johnston, 2013
Horatio Greenough, considered America’ s first professional sculptor, carved the marble dog that watches faithfully over the Perkins family tomb on Central Avenue. Placed at Mount Auburn in 1844, the monument commemorates Thomas Handasyd Perkins,“ Merchant Prince” of the China trade. Perkins commissioned Greenough to carve his Newfoundland dog in 1843 after he visited the artist in his studio in Italy; later, the sculpture was moved to Perkins’ grave at Mount Auburn. Art historian Marjorie Cohn notes that the 19th-century fashion for canine symbolism in funerary art capitalized“ upon the traditional canine iconography of fidelity, which went all the way back to guard dogs carved in ancient times.” 6
Amos Binney,( 1803 – 1847), Lots 1390 and 1391 Heath Path
Designated a National Treasure by the White House Millennium Committee to Save America’ s Treasures and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Binney monument is considered one of the outstanding works of commemorative art in this country. Carved in Rome, the sculpture is the only realized work of funerary art by renowned artist Thomas Crawford. Mary Ann Binney commissioned the marble monument in 1847 in memory of her husband, Amos Binney( 1803 – 1847), a founder and president of the Boston Society of Natural History, philanthropist, and art collector. Binney died in Rome, leaving his bereft wife to arrange for his return for burial at Mount Auburn. An observer of the time noted,“ Crawford beautifully tells the mournful story. On one side is the ascending spirit, rising from the tomb … on the opposite site is a female figure, completely shrouded, bearing an urn containing the sacred ashes.” 7
Daguerreotype, Southworth & Hawes, 1852
4 | Sweet Auburn