Adult Funeral Procession

William P. Chappel

1870s · Oil on slate paper · The American Wing

Here, Chappel depicts a funeral procession with a minister leading the widower and his son, attendant mourners, and the pallbearers, identified by their white sashes and gloves. The pictured cemetery, located near Stanton and Chrystie Streets, would have been situated in the city’s northern reaches in 1807. By the turn of the nineteenth century, overcrowded cemeteries had become a major problem for New York, and in 1804, the council banned all burials south of Pump (now Canal) Street. By 1809, the council had also prohibited the common practice of interring the dead below the sidewalks just outside the walls of cemeteries when they reached capacity.

Artist

William P. Chappel

Date

1870s

Medium

Oil on slate paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Edward W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954