Angel of Grief: a Virtual Cemetery

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Angel of Grief

Angel of Grief is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story which serves as the grave stone of the artist and his wife at the Protestant Cemetery, Rome. A replica located in Palo Alto, California was made in 1901 to honor Henry Lathrop, brother to Jane Stanford, Stanford University co-founder, but was severely damaged in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, leading to its replacement in 1908. After years of neglect, the 1908 replacement was fully restored in 2001. This style of monument is also referred to as "Weeping Angel."_______________________________________________________________Copies or replicas:United States Cassard Monument, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, 1909 or 1910 pictured in Victorian Cemetery Art Chapman H Hyams tomb, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana – early 20th century, pictured in New Orleans Architecture, Volume lll: the Cemeteries Di Cesare Monument, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester, NY Hooper monument, Hingham, Massachusetts – pictured in Memorial Art, Ancient and Modern Lathrop Memorial, Stanford Arboretum, Stanford University, California, Antonio Bernieri, sculptor, 1908 A photo of the Memorial after the 1906 quake, showing the fallen canopy. Pool Memorial, Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California pictured in Permanent Californians: An Illustrated Guide to the Cemeteries of California This memorial is about 3/4 scale compared to the Lathrop Memorial. Trorlicht Monument, Calvary Cemetery. St. Louis, Missouri pictured in Soul in the Stone: Cemetery Art From America's Heartland Three Texas Angels of GriefGlenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas Scottsville-Youree Cemetery in Scottsville, Texas, established by the Shreveport banker Peter Youree to honor his son Calvary Cemetery in Denison. Steen Monument, Oakland Cemetery Little Rock, Arkansas Chapel of the Chimes, Hayward, California Reverend Thomas Teasdale monument, Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, MississippiUnited Kingdom Penarth County Cemetery Cardiff, WalesCanada North Vancouver Cemetery Vancouver, British Columbia This replica is visible at the end of the 2010 movie Charlie St. Cloud.Costa Rica Cementerio General San José, Costa Rica pictured in http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2547536Luxembourg Limbertsberg's Notre-Dame cemetery (Luxembourg) Limpertsberg HISTORY_______________________________________________The Weeping Angel monument in the Hingham (Massachusetts) Cemetery was placed in 1896 by my great, great grandfather, John Sewall Hooper, for his beloved wife, Maria, a few years after her death. My grandfather, grandmother and several other Hooper ancestors are also resting nearby.During my own times of personal difficulty I visit our Angel to meditate and ask for guidance. The thoughts and words that come to me each time I visit her strengthen my faith, inspire my spiritual growth and encourage me to share her with as many people as I can. As I started to share my story, I found that many other people had spent time with "Our Angel" and found her to be comforting in times of need.I also became fascinated by the history of her sculptor, William Wetmore Story. Born in Salem, MA, in 1819, Story graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and practiced law in Boston before listening to his own angel and turning to his true calling as an artist, sculptor, writer and poet.Story was the son of the prominent Boston lawyer and Associate US Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, who is perhaps best remembered for presiding over the Amistad slave ship trial. William originally followed his father's path into law practice, but upon his father's death in 1845, William was asked by The Trustees of the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA to create a memorial sculpture of his famous father. When he resisted due to his lack of formal training, they granted him time and money to take his young family to Italy where he could learn how to become a master sculptor. It would turn out to be a trip that would change his life dramatically. In Rome, he discovered his passion for sculpture and the fine arts and abandoned his law practice and Boston residence forever.Perhaps best known for his marble sculpture of Cleopatra, on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Story captured the ill-fated Egyptian queen despondent, fidgety and disheveled in the moment she came to grips with the fall of her empire. This was a radical departure for fine art sculpture which had always been more romantic and ideal, but it made him world famous for his use of emotion and psychological drama in sculpture and earned him praise as "the Michelangelo of his time."Other William Wetmore Story works of note include memorial sculptures of Francis Scott Key in San Francisco, US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall in the US Supreme Court, Science Professor Joseph Henry outside the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Edward Everett on the Boston Common, philanthropist George Peabody in London, England and many others.Upon the death of his dearly beloved wife, Emelyn, in 1895, he created the original weeping angel monument which he called, "The Angel of Grief Weeping at the Dismantled Altar of Life." It sits where she was laid to rest in the "Artist and Poets" cemetery in Rome. William Wetmore Story died later that same year. Our weeping angel monument is the final work of one of America's greatest sculptors. Since then many other replicas have been created, most notably the weeping angel at Stanford University in California which was commissioned by the founder's wife, Jane Stanford upon the death of her brother. She is more commonly known as "the Earthquake Angel" since she was severely damaged and subsequently rebuilt after the Great Quake of 1906 in San Francisco.I refer to her as "Our Weeping Angel" because I want to share this beautiful image and the powerful healing, comfort and compassion she offers with everyone.Please feel free to call or email me for more information, to share your angel stories or to discuss any of the artwork, poetry and imagery I have created. I also hope you will read about our healing work and consider becoming one of our Earth Angels. John Hooper [email protected]

Angel of Grief is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story which serves as the grave stone of the artist and his wife at the Protestant Cemetery, Rome. A replica located in Palo Alto, California was made in 1901 to honor Henry Lathrop, brother to Jane Stanford, Stanford University co-founder, but was severely damaged in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, leading to its replacement in 1908. After years of neglect, the 1908 replacement was fully restored in 2001.  This style of monument is also referred to as "Weeping Angel."_______________________________________________________________Copies or replicas:United States    Cassard Monument, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, 1909 or 1910    pictured in Victorian Cemetery Art    Chapman H Hyams tomb, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana – early 20th century, pictured in New Orleans Architecture, Volume lll: the Cemeteries    Di Cesare Monument, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester, NY    Hooper monument, Hingham, Massachusetts –    pictured in Memorial Art, Ancient and Modern    Lathrop Memorial, Stanford Arboretum, Stanford University, California, Antonio Bernieri, sculptor, 1908    A photo of the Memorial after the 1906 quake, showing the fallen canopy.    Pool Memorial, Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, California    pictured in Permanent Californians: An Illustrated Guide to the Cemeteries of California This memorial is about 3/4 scale compared to the Lathrop Memorial.    Trorlicht Monument, Calvary Cemetery. St. Louis, Missouri    pictured in Soul in the Stone: Cemetery Art From America's Heartland    Three Texas Angels of GriefGlenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas        Scottsville-Youree Cemetery in Scottsville, Texas, established by the Shreveport banker Peter Youree to honor his son        Calvary Cemetery in Denison.    Steen Monument, Oakland Cemetery Little Rock, Arkansas    Chapel of the Chimes, Hayward, California    Reverend Thomas Teasdale monument, Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, MississippiUnited Kingdom    Penarth County Cemetery Cardiff, WalesCanada    North Vancouver Cemetery Vancouver, British Columbia    This replica is visible at the end of the 2010 movie Charlie St. Cloud.Costa Rica    Cementerio General San José, Costa Rica    pictured in http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2547536Luxembourg    Limbertsberg's Notre-Dame cemetery (Luxembourg) Limpertsberg HISTORY_______________________________________________The Weeping Angel monument in the Hingham (Massachusetts) Cemetery was placed in 1896 by my great, great grandfather, John Sewall Hooper, for his beloved wife, Maria, a few years after her death. My grandfather, grandmother and several other Hooper ancestors are also resting nearby.During my own times of personal difficulty I visit our Angel to meditate and ask for guidance. The thoughts and words that come to me each time I visit her strengthen my faith, inspire my spiritual growth and encourage me to share her with as many people as I can. As I started to share my story, I found that many other people had spent time with "Our Angel" and found her to be comforting in times of need.I also became fascinated by the history of her sculptor, William Wetmore Story. Born in Salem, MA, in 1819, Story graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and practiced law in Boston before listening to his own angel and turning to his true calling as an artist, sculptor, writer and poet.Story was the son of the prominent Boston lawyer and Associate US Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, who is perhaps best remembered for presiding over the Amistad slave ship trial. William originally followed his father's path into law practice, but upon his father's death in 1845, William was asked by The Trustees of the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA to create a memorial sculpture of his famous father. When he resisted due to his lack of formal training, they granted him time and money to take his young family to Italy where he could learn how to become a master sculptor. It would turn out to be a trip that would change his life dramatically. In Rome, he discovered his passion for sculpture and the fine arts and abandoned his law practice and Boston residence forever.Perhaps best known for his marble sculpture of Cleopatra, on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Story captured the ill-fated Egyptian queen despondent, fidgety and disheveled in the moment she came to grips with the fall of her empire. This was a radical departure for fine art sculpture which had always been more romantic and ideal, but it made him world famous for his use of emotion and psychological drama in sculpture and earned him praise as "the Michelangelo of his time."Other William Wetmore Story works of note include memorial sculptures of Francis Scott Key in San Francisco, US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall in the US Supreme Court, Science Professor Joseph Henry outside the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Edward Everett on the Boston Common, philanthropist George Peabody in London, England and many others.Upon the death of his dearly beloved wife, Emelyn, in 1895, he created the original weeping angel monument which he called, "The Angel of Grief Weeping at the Dismantled Altar of Life." It sits where she was laid to rest in the "Artist and Poets" cemetery in Rome. William Wetmore Story died later that same year. Our weeping angel monument is the final work of one of America's greatest sculptors. Since then many other replicas have been created, most notably the weeping angel at Stanford University in California which was commissioned by the founder's wife, Jane Stanford upon the death of her brother. She is more commonly known as "the Earthquake Angel" since she was severely damaged and subsequently rebuilt after the Great Quake of 1906 in San Francisco.I refer to her as "Our Weeping Angel" because I want to share this beautiful image and the powerful healing, comfort and compassion she offers with everyone.Please feel free to call or email me for more information, to share your angel stories or to discuss any of the artwork, poetry and imagery I have created. I also hope you will read about our healing work and consider becoming one of our Earth Angels. John Hooper Deanjack@ourweepingangel.org