Discovering the Meaning Behind Graveyard Elements

What element of the nineteenth-century garden cemetery served the function of memento mori?

The elements of the nineteenth-century garden cemetery that served the function of memento mori are gravestones.

Final Answer:

In 19th-century garden cemeteries, tombstones and grave markers served the purpose of 'memento mori', providing reminders of mortality.

Explanation:

During the nineteenth-century, the garden cemetery, which was a synthesized landscape of a park, garden, and graveyard, used tombs and gravestones as the element serving the function of memento mori. The term 'memento mori' is Latin and means 'remember you must die'. It represents an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. Gothic-style tombstones and monuments, often adorned with macabre and symbolic motifs such as skulls, hourglasses and extinguished lamps, underscored the purpose of these grave markers as reminders of mortality.

Models of Victorian-era garden cemeteries, such as those in the United Kingdom, often showed a shift in societal views of death over time. For example, epitaphs on gravestones evolved from merely marking a person's life to expressing poignant sentiments and beliefs about death and the afterlife. Frequent deaths due to diseases and harsh living conditions often inspired the people of the time to contemplate mortality. This reflection extended to artwork and literature, with the increasing prominence of deathbed scenes and dancing skeletons in visual arts.

Hence, such grave markers were not only reminders of death but also tools encouraging the populations to appreciate life amidst frequent encounters with death.