Art, Ritual, and Death in the 19th Century
Monday, December 14, 10am – 4pm
Grave of Victor Noir (by Jules Dalou) at cemetery Père-Lachaise, Paris. Photograph by Caterina Pierre
$170; members $153
(one-day workshop)
About the Class
In the 19th century, death was deeply woven into everyday life, shaping rituals, fashion, photography, architecture, and the decorative arts. This one-day online workshop explores how mourning practices influenced visual culture during the Victorian era and beyond.
Together, we’ll examine mourning jewelry, memorial photography, death masks, funerary design, painting, and fashion objects created to preserve memory and support the grieving process. We’ll also consider the broader social and historical forces that shaped these practices, including changing attitudes toward death, industrialization, empire, and the influence of Queen Victoria, the famed “Widow of Windsor,” and her prolonged public mourning.
Through close looking and discussion, participants will explore how art and objects helped people process loss, remembrance, and mortality during a period of profound cultural transformation.
The class is online-only. More about online classes.
Already registered? Log in to Barnes Learning.
- Sharpen your observational and critical-thinking skills.
- Improve your ability to communicate about art.
- Deepen your appreciation for cultures and histories outside your own.
Instructor
Caterina Y. Pierre
Pierre is a professor of art history at the City University of New York at Kingsborough Community College and visiting associate professor at the Pratt Institute. She has taught about art and crime at CUNY Kingsborough, Pratt, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York. She is currently working on a book about cemetery sculpture as political art in the late 19th century and another on Ernest Durig, a forger of the sculptor Auguste Rodin.
What Students Are Saying
“Joe Tokumasu Field was a wonderful instructor. He’s patient, caring, and skilled at interacting with students’ questions and comments.” —The Japanese American Century with Joseph Tokumasu Field
“This was an exciting course with fascinating and informative lectures and well-chosen pictures. Franits is a brilliant teacher.” —17th-Century Dutch Art’s “Holy Trinity”: Hals, Rembrandt, and Vermeer with Wayne Franits
“The instructor was outstanding in every way—an expert in the subject, enthusiastic about the material, solicitous and supportive of students’ observations, and brilliant in expanding our discussion as warranted. The best Barnes instructor I’ve had, by far.” —The Nabis: Late 19th-Century Prophets of the New with Larissa Bailiff
“I enjoyed the course very much and liked how each week focused on a different topic relevant to the subject. Caterina is an engaging speaker, and you can tell she loves what she is teaching. Her enthusiasm and sense of humor come through.” —Famous Heists: Crimes in the History of Art with Caterina Pierre
“I felt at peace afterward and appreciated the art so much more than before.” —Being Present with Art: Cultivating Balance for Spring with Roksana Filipowska
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