Statue of veiled woman wiping tears with her hand at Pere-Lachaise cemetery

A stone sculpture depicting a woman in mourning, with her face partially covered by a veil and hand raised to her forehead or cheek in a gesture of grief. The expression on the face, with half-closed eyes and slightly open mouth, conveys intense but contained suffering, typical of 19th-century funerary iconography. In the background, blurred, one of the many funerary chapels of Pere-Lachaise can be glimpsed. This type of grieving figure, often placed as decoration on tombs, represented family mourning and invited visitors to reflect on the transience of life.

Pere-Lachaise, sculpture, woman, mourning, veil, tears, funerary art, Paris