The Range of Emotions Seen at a Funeral

Courbet, Funeral at Ornans, 1849-1850, d'Orsay

At funerals, one witnesses a wide range of emotions. Obviously, the predominant emotion is grief as death is a terrible thing. Nonetheless, despite the sadness surrounding funerals, not everyone mourns. The varying emotions experienced by people at a simple country funeral are seen in Gustave Courbet’s Funeral at Ornans, located in the Musée d’Orsay. Painted in 1849-50 and showcased at the Salon from 1850-1851, his massive painting is more about the individual portraits of the mourners than the dead person and the ceremony itself. Although the funeral appears to be an ordinary funeral for an average person, Courbet pays great attention to individual detail. At the painting’s forefront, a hole is being dug for a grave. Nonetheless, this is not the central focus of the painting because it is just a small detail within a larger group of details—the people attending the funeral. Behind the grave, funeral goers are arranged in a horizontal line with each person treated similarly because no central character is emphasized over the others. The painting’s landscape is somewhat barren and dreary, further adding to the emphasis on the mourners.

Despite the darkness of the painting, Courbet uses enough detail to identify individuals and their actions. By looking at the painting, the viewer can see the separate experiences people are having because everyone seems to be doing something different. For example, to the left of the priest, the alter server behind the central alter boy is clearly distracted as he is looking up at the man with the hat next to him. He probably did not know the dead person and is only at the funeral to complete his job as an altar boy. As a result, he feels no ties to the deceased being mourned and is probably bored. Another character towards the center of the crowd is the man behind the man with the green socks. He is looking down at the ground, lost in thought. Perhaps he was a friend of the departed and is reflecting on their relationship or on death itself. The painting’s right corner is made up of women who are all dressed in a sea of black. Some women appear to be talking as they face away from the grave while others are lost in their emotions, crying into white handkerchiefs. The detail that Courbet infuses each character with give clues about the identity of the person because these depictions are clearly individual portraits.

*Picture: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=2395