This Receiving Vault was built in 1906 after the old one, which was in a different location, was taken down. According to the cemetery’s Web site, this design by Peter Charles Reniers’ Sons more or less duplicated the design of the original Receiving Vault by John Chislett, the architect who laid out the cemetery in the 1840s.
Gustav Heeren died in 1885, and that is probably the date of this curious monument, which seems determined to confront us with everything that is excessive about Victorian romanticism. The sculpture itself is a work of some skill, but it is very “romantic” in the sense in which old Pa Pitt once defined the term: “The essence of the romantic style in cemetery monuments, Father Pitt has decided, is the peculiar combination of realism in details with unlikeliness in composition.” Among the many odd things: the sculpture is a bronze that appears to have been painted black, perhaps in an attempt to arrest corrosion.
This memorial, designed by architect Brandon Smith, was put up in 1937. The bronze eagles are by Bradley Warren. The picture above is very large if you click on it, so don’t click if you’re on a metered connection.
Two joined ponds in the Allegheny Cemetery are favorites with both human visitors and waterbirds.
A panoramic view of part of the Allegheny Cemetery, with the Singer mausoleum in the foreground.
