Description:
The classic study of gravestone art
In Puritan New England, with its abiding concern for things not of this world and its distrust of forms and ceremonies, one art flourished: the symbolic art of mortuary monument stonecarvers. This carefully researched, beautifully illustrated work was the first to consider this art in depth as a meaningful aesthetic-spiritual expression. It is reissued for today's readers, with a new preface outlining changes in the field since the book appeared in 1966.
Review Quotes:
"'A big, superbly printed collection . . . To leaf through this book is to confront a vanished community trying to make sense of itself through art."--Greil Marcus, Rolling Stone
"'A big, superbly printed collection . . . To leaf through this book is to confront a vanished community trying to make sense of itself through art."--Greil Marcus, Rolling Stone
"Graven Images is a classic text in American Studies. It led a generation into the graveyards of New England to look with fresh eyes on a neglected American art form. Ludwig's insights are as original and inspiring today as they were in 1966, and this book still provides the best single source for images of New England gravestones, with its hundreds of beautiful photographs. ... Students, scholars, and anyone who brakes for old graveyards will welcome this indispensible book."--David Watters, former editor of Markers