Death in the Victorian Era (part
4)
– Post Mortem Photography
“What a comfort it is to possess the image of those
who are removed from our sight. We may raise an image of them in our minds but
that has not the tangibility of one we can see with our bodily eyes.”- Flora A.Windeyer, in a letter to
Rev. John Blomfield, November 1870.
It was commonplace, for those that could
afford it in the Victorian Era, to have portraits of family members
commissioned during their lifetime, or upon death. With the invention of
photography, a far cheaper form of memorial portrait came into existence,
“post-mortem photography”, also known as ‘Memento
Mori’ (In Latin “Remember that you must die” or in Art; an object, such as
a skull (or photograph) as a reminder of death or mortality).
A photograph would be taken of the deceased
loved one, sometimes laying in their coffin, or they might be propped up in a
chair sitting amongst living family members or posed, through specially made
apparatus, to be standing, as if alive, posed with their favourite possessions.
The usual
practice was for the deceased to appear as if they were sleeping peacefully.
On occasion, children would be made to sit beside their dead relative for a photo, could you imagine how disturbing this must’ve been for a young child?
On occasion, children would be made to sit beside their dead relative for a photo, could you imagine how disturbing this must’ve been for a young child?
The whole experience was to remember the
deceased loved one, who would soon be buried, and to be able to gaze upon than
that one last time. Some families even went to the trouble of having postcards
made of the deceased person to send to family members on the other side of the
country, or the world!
Next
Week: Death in the Victorian Era part 5:
Victorian Funeral Etiquette
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