Most Holy Trinity Cemetery: Statues

In addition to the completely wonderful tin and wood markers that fill Most Holy Trinity Cemetery in Brooklyn, there are some really excellent metal statues scattered about the grounds. It was a photo of a woman statue, half submerged in the ground that initially drew me to visit the cemetery, but I was surprised at how many I found.

Because the statues are all made of metal, like most of the markers, they have weathered and become damaged in some very interesting ways. Instead of crumbling or being worn away by rain like stone statues, the metal figures developed holes or had entire limbs or accessories that appear to have fallen off at some point. I'm not exactly sure why most of the statues were unconnected with a marker of any kind—most were just sinking into the ground without any indication as to whom they belonged.

I love the intricate nature of metal casting vs. stone carving—from delicate crowns to feathery wings to the undulating folds of the cloth—everything is rendered in fine detail. There are various religious figures represented at Most Holy Trinity, but the most common one was the Madonna and Child—in fact I saw the exact same statue several different times, distinguishable only by their varying levels of decay.