1 post tagged “brooklyn new york”
Maybe you know me and my predeliction for all things Victorian. John Ruskin. I have had the hots for Charlotte Bronte since I was a teenager. I aspire to one day be William Morris, and be able to successfully write novels and poems, design buildings and print beautiful books. It's easy to take inspiration from people who have been stone cold in their graves for more than a hundred years, but Brooklyn has one place where the Victorians still speak each and every day. The Green-Wood Cemetery, founded in 1838 in the Gowanus Heights is the largest concentration of Victoriana in NYC, yet so few New Yorker's I know even know it exists. Allow me to blow up thy spot for a bit.
'A dreaded sunny day, so meet meet at the cemetery gates. Keats and Yeats are on your side, Wilde is on mine...' I couldn't resist throwing in that Smiths quote, because it fits perfectly. Green-Wood has an entrance worthy of the serious business of dying that goes on inside. The gates at the 25th Street entrance, are slightly newer than the rest of the site, having been put into place in 1860's. The pillars are Indiana Limestone, and the iron gates have just received a fantastic restoration by Jurgen Scoda. You will feel quiet and humble as you pass inside. This is architecture with a purpose, to effect the humans that interact with it. This is often missing in our modern environment, we moderns don't like to be humbled so often by our own creations.
The Gatehouse is one of the best examples of Victorian architecture anywhere in NYC, and possibly anywhere in the United States.Designed by English born architect Richard Upjohn, and built between 1861-1863 every inch of this buildings is beautifully detailed. Don't forget to look up. Above the entrance ways are well preserved Bas Relief carvings grouped around the theme of Christian resurrection. This buildings is also home to famous Brooklyn Parrots, which you can see nesting and wheeling about most of the year.
After passing through the gatehouse, you are no longer in the land of the living. Pop a coin in Charon's hand; you have crossed into the land of the dead.
The Green-Wood Cemetery gets my vote for the most peaceful place anywhere in New York City. Even on clear, beautiful days, it's so quiet you can hear the wind whistling over the tombstones. There isn't a Yoga class that can hold a candle to this place.
If you act like a yahoo, this gent on the left is sure to make an appearance in your dreams.
Situated in a slight dip in the geography is the Green-Wood Chapel. The chapel has recently been restored, and is less creepy than most churches. The doors are usually open for observation and poking around. The outside is somewhat dour, but after all we are in a Victorian Necropolis, but the inside is quite
I also noticed that an overly chubby pussy cat has
I'm much more of a dog person,but I figure every graveyard worth its' bodies needs a tabby cat.
As you move away from the gates, you begin to soak in the real character of Green-Wood. It's spare at best, in the best meaning of the word. Sure there are gravestones, but there are mausoleums as well, which aren't quite so common in the U.S. Each of these free standing tombs is an architectural masterwork in miniature. I'm personally partial to the pyramids. The Victorians were just discovering Ancient Egypt, and it's surface influence pops up all over Victorian culture, especially with anything having to do with The Dead. The Egyptians had there entire culture pointing towards the afterlife, and the Victorians have taken this same tact in many ways. Through a strange twist of fate, of once spent quite a bit of time in New Haven Connecticut, where there is an enormous Victorian necropolis, with a giant moniker carved in stone above its' gates that reads, 'And The Dead Shall Rise Again', with some faux Egyptian stonework.
Up on her high horse, we a fantastic statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of Wisdom and Artifice. Strangely, this isn't the only statue of Minerva in Green-Wood. When they weren't appropriating the Egyptians, they were looking back towards Ancient Rome. Those Victorians.
Overall, the condition of everything at Green-Wood is absolutely stellar. The grave stones, the tombs and the grounds are perfectly kept, and there isn't a shred of litter of vandalism anyplace that I've ever seen there, and I've been wandering around this place for a long, long time. I have always wondered, what happened to my ladies' head here? She doesn't seem to be part of any specific grave site that I noticed, which may be why her head is missing. Vaguely reminiscent of Winged Victory of Samothrace because of her decapitation, be sure and pay this statue of visit. She isn't much for conversation, things being what they are, but it is an exquisite little piece of art. In the past I have entertained the idea that she may have been constructed without a head, as a nod to the Greeks or Romans.
Up on a little hill, opposite the small pond with the mobs of geese, is an elaborate little temple tomb. Ringing the tomb are some scary, snarling, teeth bearing wolf heads that are worth a close up look. Possibly they were placed on this tomb to scare off evil spirits so the interred could rest in peace?
Even through years of weathering, I wouldn't want to meet this fellow in a dark alley. His teeth are still sharp as hell all these years later.
Graveyards play funny tricks on your mind, and play tricks with light and shadows on your visions. Every now and than you capture a specter with your Nikon.
Here is the shadowy alter -ego of your narrator stalking the paths of the The Green-Wood cemetery to let you know what's going on in NYC.
On the right is a modern grave with a small covered votive. This makes me think of the relics that seem to cover every inch of Italian churches. Looking at pictures of The Dead, while among the dead lends a certain immediacy to living, I think. I agree it is also creepy.
When approaching the crest of the largest hill in Green-Wood, you'll start to make out a terrific panorama of tombs, the lake, and views of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey City on a clear day. At the bottom of the hill is a miniature
Monticello esque round Roman temple.
Olmsted and Vaux are looking down with approval. Hey guys, this is laid out much better than your Fort Greene Park, right? Of course you disagree. Well, at some point in the future we'll have quite a bit of time to work this out amongst ourselves fellas.
It's hard to beat the view though. There are much less beautiful things you could be watching for eternity than this.
to pay these two a visit every time I visit Green-Wood. Be sure to give them a scratch on the ears. They're quite friendly as long as you don't mess with their master inside.
I'm not sure who's buried in here. It's no one that I know, but between the dogs and the gorgeous Neo-Classical gate, I'm certain he had good taste.
This casting reminds me of Edwards Byrne-Jones. I imagine its' creator was familiar with his work, at least through prints or engravings.
In Full Metal Jacket, Joker gives a bit narration where he says, "The Dead know only one thing. It is better to be alive". This swan, swimming along and minding his own business, seems to know that better than anyone.
I love a good conspiracy as much as the next guy, but not really convinced that they're controlling the world at the moment. Either way, the Masons are heavily represented here in Brooklyn. This tomb also reminds me of time in New Haven,
where similar symbols point to the home of Skull and Bones.
More than anything else, I appreciate Green-Wood as a place of extraordinary beauty, smack dab in the middle of New York City. Beauty can be thin on the ground in the Five Boroughs. Don't take that the wrong way, New York City has no bigger booster than myself, but truly gorgeous things are not exactly what NYC is known for. They're there, but this isn't Paris, where the truly beautiful is spilling into the gutters. We have to work a bit harder to finds views like the one above left.
Truthfully, my knowledge of the U.S. Civil War, is much spottier than it should be. I think I spent most of that year of high school smoking pot in the student parking lot. I do know that U.S. Grant was stationed for quite some time in my Brooklyn neighborhood, Fort Hamilton. It would make sense that his personal doctor, and his wife, are buried at Green-Wood. Remember folks,, the spirit of Grant and Douglas is with us when we Defend the Fort at all Costs!
I really love graffiti. Especially old graffiti. This is only 40 years old,much younger than just about everything else in this place, but I find it very interesting how the words carved into this tree have grown and spread over time. You can see 40 years of tree growth in a second, that's something you won't find in a science textbook, but seems to illustrate the passage of time in a place that has changed very little in the last hundred years.
This monster tomb sits on top of a hill, and belongs to one of the wealthiest, most famous old line New York City families. I'm not going to tell you who. I want you to make the trek and figure it out. It's worth the trip here, which is the whole point of why I do this. I'm only interested in people exploring the city and learning something new.
So stop. Take a look around. Notice the details, like the cast iron base holding up said stop sign. Green-Wood is really a unique place in New York. Sure there are other burial places, like Cypress Hills, and the two Marble Cemeteries, or the wonderful churchyard at St. Paul's. Green-Wood is different. I've been here dozens of times, and there is still so much I haven't seen. For instance, Basquiat is buried here, but I've never stumbled upon his resting place. I'd like to offer you this piece of advice. They lock the gates at 4 pm. For real, they will lock you in. I'm not kidding. As beautiful as it is here, I don't think any of us are quite ready to take up permanent residence yet.
Until next time, keep it Victorian kids. - Sexy Jesus