Catafalque
Acatafalqueis a raisedbier,box, or similar platform, often movable, that is used to support the casket,coffin,or body of a dead person during aChristian funeralor memorial service.[1]Following aRoman CatholicRequiem Mass,a catafalque may be used to stand in place of the body at theabsolution of the deador used during Masses of the Dead andAll Souls' Day.[2]
Etymology[edit]
According to Peter Stanford, the term originates from theItaliancatafalco,which meansscaffolding.[3]However, theOxford English Dictionarysays the word is "[o]f unknown derivation; even the original form is uncertain; French pointing to-fald-or-falt-,Italian to-falc-,Spanish to-fals."The most notable Italian catafalque was the one designed forMichelangeloby his fellow artists in 1564.[4]An elaborate and highly decorated roofed surround for a catafalque,[5]common for grand funerals of theBaroqueera, may be called acastrum doloris.
Papal catafalques[edit]
Large processions have followed the catafalques ofpopes.The households of the cardinals carried the catafalque ofPope Sixtus Vin 1590. The bier, decorated with gold cloth, was followed by "confraternities,religious orders,students of seminaries and colleges, orphans andmendicants".[6]In 1963, a million people filed past the catafalque ofPope John XXIII,which had been carried in procession toSt. Peter's Basilicain Rome.[7] In Catholic Liturgy, the catafalque is either an empty casket or a wooden form made to look like a casket that is covered by the black pall and surrounded by six unbleached (orange) candles (when they are available); it is a symbolic representation of the deceased or a monument erected to represent the faithful departed. When it is present, the priest sings the absolution for the deceased as if the body was present. The body was the Temple of the Holy Spirit and must be shown the greatest respect, even symbolically, the catafalque is thus this symbol of hope in God and in His promise to raise our bodies and that of our departed ones in glory like the Risen Body of His Son seated at His right hand.[citation needed]
Notable catafalques[edit]
Other than religious leaders such as popes, famous people have lain in state or been carried in procession to their burial place on a catafalque.
Voltaire[edit]
Thirteen years after his death, the remains ofVoltairewere transferred on a catafalque to thePanthéonin Paris, a building dedicated to the great men of the French nation. It bore the inscription: "Poet, philosopher, historian, he made a great step forward in the human spirit. He prepared us to become free."[8]
Abraham Lincoln[edit]
TheLincoln catafalque,[9]first used for United States PresidentAbraham Lincoln's funeral in 1865, has been used for all those who havelain in statein theCapitol Rotundasince Lincoln's death, the most recent of which were Capitol Police OfficerBilly Evanson April 13, 2021, and U.S. SenatorBob Doleon December 9, 2021. It has recently been used at the memorial forRuth Bader Ginsburgin the rotunda of the Supreme Court of the United States on September 23, 2020. It was later moved to the portico of the Court for public viewing. When not in use, the catafalque is kept on display in the Exhibition Hall at theUnited States Capitol Visitor Center.Commentators noted that the structure of the original pine timbers and boards has been reinforced, albeit being left "original".[10]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Jobson, Christopher (2009).Looking Forward Looking Back: Customs and Traditions of the Australian Army.Big Sky Publishing. pp. 71–.ISBN978-0-98032516-4.
- ^Empereur, James; Eduardo Fernández (12 October 2006).La Vida Sacra: Contemporary Hispanic Sacramental Theology.Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 294–.ISBN978-1-4616-3855-1.
- ^Stanford, Peter (23 May 2013).How to Read a Graveyard: Journeys in the Company of the Dead.A&C Black. p. 244.ISBN978-1-4411-7977-7.
- ^Cornelison, Sally J. (2012).Art and the Relic Cult of St. Antoninus in Renaissance Florence.Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 276.ISBN978-0-7546-6714-8.
- ^Bull, George (15 July 1998).Michelangelo: A Biography.St. Martin's Press. p. 3.ISBN978-0-312-18746-0.
- ^Schraven, Minou (2014).Festive Funerals in Early Modern Italy: The Art and Culture of Conspicuous Commemoration.Ashgate Publishing. p. 203.ISBN978-0-7546-6524-3.
- ^"Millions of people pass by the catafalque bearing the body of Pope John XXIII in...HD Stock Footage".YouTube.18 June 2014.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2021.Retrieved26 July2016.
- ^"Voltaire's funeral procession".Visitvoltaire.Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2016.Retrieved26 July2016.
- ^Coggeshall, William Turner (1865).Lincoln Memorial: The Journeys of Abraham Lincoln: from Springfield to Washington, 1861, as President Elect; and from Washington to Springfield, 1865, as President Martyred; Comprising an Account of Public Ceremonies on the Entire Route, and Full Details of Both Journeys.Ohio State Journal.pp.277–.
- ^According to Robert Cromie in his bookThe Great Chicago Fire,copyright 1958, Lincoln's catafalque was in Woods' Museum inChicagoand was burned in theGreat Chicago Firein 1871. However, Lincoln had funeral ceremonies during stops at several major cities as his remains were taken by train from Washington toSpringfield, Illinoisfor burial. Cromie probably meant the catafalque used for ceremonies held at Chicago, rather than the one built for his state funeral in DC and retained at the U.S. Capitol.
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