Detail of the Egyptian sphinx sculpted by Jacob Epstein on Oscar Wilde's tomb at Pere-Lachaise
2016
02/21
NIKON D800, 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8 @
f/2.8 1/500,
ISO 250
32
views
A detail of Oscar Wilde's funerary monument, the Irish writer who died in Paris in 1900. The tomb, created by sculptor Jacob Epstein in 1914, features a winged sphinx in Egyptian-modernist style, inspired by Wilde's poem "The Sphinx." The figure's face, with closed eyes and pronounced lips, bears traces of lipstick left by visitors who for years kissed the stone as a tribute. In 2011 a glass barrier was installed to protect the work, but the lipstick visible in the photo testifies to fans' love for the author of "The Picture of Dorian Gray."
