Italian stone angels, Rome

Italy is known for outstanding museums           where art treasures are on display

You can find incredible marble carvings in museums, public plazas and even private homes and courtyards.  But have you searched for other incredible carvings in the cemetery?

Entrance to the Rome English cemetery in Rome

A view of the Piramide from the cemetery. 
Only a few blocks from the metro station Piramide 

The English Cemetery or also known as the Protestant Cemetery, was my first stop to find marble angels.   

How does an artist make hard stone look alive, show stone like a folded piece of fabric and the depth of emotion in the facial expressions?   No other grave sculpture has had such a lasting impression on me as the The Angel of Grief, also know as the Weeping Angel.   

              You see this grave piece from across the cemetery.   



A number of well know expats are buried in the cemetery but many visitors may make the pilgrimage to see the Weeping Angel.  This massive sculpture by artist William Story  is a memorial for his wife.      

                                         The posture of the angel expresses abject sadness.

                       You do not need to see the face of this angel to feel the pain she is experiencing.


The grounds are very well kept with paths that allow you to walk past every headstone.  On a very hot day in Rome the cooler temperature and quiet was a welcome respite from the hectic pace of the city.

There is a welcome center near the entrance where friendly English speaking volunteers will sell you a simple map and give you directions and or background information on the graves you may be looking for. 

Continuing my search for stone angels I found several of interest but nothing compared with the Weeping Angel.

I have to question how some of the angel wings are attached.   Some of the 'slimmer' statues were carved from one piece of marble.   Angles with a wide wing span are 'attached'.   On my next visit I will try to find an answer.   Did the artist use metal bars to attach the wings?

                      Just another example of the incredible detail the artist puts into a statue.

                                   A visitor may have left the flower for this sleeping lady

Possibly a raven . Makes me think of an Edgar Allen Poe story.  

  I must thank Steve at The Beehive in Rome for a post about the cemetery.     There are so many other great places to explore on every trip Home to Italy.