In Perpetuity: Funerary Monuments, Consumerism and Social Reform in Paris (1804–1924)

The cemetery reforms of the Napoleonic era formulated a heavily regulated, health-conscious system of burial throughout the French empire that, in its most radical move, ensured all citizens would have the right to a separate plot within a public cemetery, regardless of socioeconomic status or religious affiliation. This not only transformed the manner in which people were buried, but also how the lives of otherwise unremarkable individuals would be commemorated, remembered, and valued. Particularly as the middle classes of Paris acquired greater social mobility, the cemetery increasingly became a place of social distinction. Yet burial space was only guaranteed for five years, unless one purchased a concession: a private land grant that transformed the public space of burial into parcels of private property either temporarily (up to 15 years) or in perpetuity. As only a small fraction of the population could afford to purchase plots in perpetuity, the vast majority of burials were, from their conception, temporary. Consequently, it has typically been only the most expensive tombs that have survived into the present day, leaving scholars with little material evidence with which to study the commemorative practices of the general population.

Contrary to past studies of French cemeteries, which have tended to prioritize architects and sculptors, this dissertation critically assesses the role of the marbrier (stonecutter) as the chief producer of funerary monuments, and their middle-class clients as central to the visual culture of commemoration in nineteenth-century urban burial spaces. Since extant examples of these more vernacular monuments are rare, this dissertation takes a database-driven approach to analyze commercial almanacs, work logs, and burial records in order to compensate for losses in the material record. This allows for the identification of significant patterns in the development of the funerary monuments industry, which—when contextualized among more traditional forms of art-historical evidence such as model books, plans and caricatures—reveals the peculiar relationship between funerary practices and the emerging consumer culture and urban reform campaigns of nineteenth-century Paris. This work firstly contributes to discussions of how database-driven methodologies can be used to more accurately reconsider subjects in visual and material culture studies, especially in cases where the objects of inquiry have not tended to survive into the present; and, secondly, provides the first study dedicated to the popular market for funerary monuments in France and the regulatory environment that spurred its development within the context of urban, social, and economic changes at the beginning of the Modern period.