Tag: Classical Architecture

  • Kerr Column, Allegheny Cemetery

    This curious column combines classical and Gothic ideas to create something not quite like any of the other dozens of columns in the cemetery. It remembers Andrew Lennox Kerr (1789-1839) and Jane Kerr (1785-1880). From the style of the column, and the fact that the inscriptions for Andrew and Jane seem to have been cut at the same time, we can guess that the column was put up after Jane Kerr died in 1880.

  • Myers Mausoleum, Allegheny Cemetery

    This simple Doric temple received its first burial in 1896. Inside is a fine window of an angel bearing lilies and laying a victor’s wreath at the grave.

  • McCandless-Johnston Monument, Allegheny Cemetery

    A particularly tasteful monument from 1924. The classical form might be almost severe, but the lettering gives us a hint of Art Deco, and the bronze angel seems very inviting. “Major McCandless likes it on the other side,” the angel seems to say. “I think you will, too.”

  • James Wood Friend Mausoleum, Allegheny Cemetery

    A fine Doric mausoleum; like a gentleman’s suit, it is designed not to stand out, but to be just a little better and more tasteful than what everyone else is wearing this year. James Wood Friend died in 1909; he may have had this mausoleum built for him before that.

  • Fownes Mausoleum, Homewood Cemetery

    This elegant Ionic mausoleum received its first residents in 1880. As a classical mausoleums go, it is unusually splendid, much more varied in texture than early-twentieth-century designs. Rusticated stone, smooth columns, polished-granite pilasters flanking the doorway, and even the unusually artistic letters that spell out the name “FOWNES”—all add to the impression of richness and complexity. But nothing seems out of place. Father Pitt considers this a good example of what was best in “Victorian” design.