LucasWhitehead
Paris Catacombs 1822
Here is a comical depiction of a visit to the Paris Catacombs, which from very early on was a tourist attraction, and perhaps the first place to make death into a spectacle in Paris. More accessible and more mysterious than the cemeteries, the catacombs were a perfect location to transform the morbid into a spectacle. We see that the visitors in this picture are of two classes. The man with the lantern appears to be the guide and of a lower class, while the ladies and the gentlemen in tails appear to be upper class tourists, perhaps not even from Paris. The morbid nature of a catacomb is downplayed in the sketch, with a silly practical joke being portrayed. Also, the fact that ladies are even pictured in the location is making a statement about what kind of place one should conceive the catacombs to be.
Paris Catacombs 1822
Here is a comical depiction of a visit to the Paris Catacombs, which from very early on was a tourist attraction, and perhaps the first place to make death into a spectacle in Paris. More accessible and more mysterious than the cemeteries, the catacombs were a perfect location to transform the morbid into a spectacle. We see that the visitors in this picture are of two classes. The man with the lantern appears to be the guide and of a lower class, while the ladies and the gentlemen in tails appear to be upper class tourists, perhaps not even from Paris. The morbid nature of a catacomb is downplayed in the sketch, with a silly practical joke being portrayed. Also, the fact that ladies are even pictured in the location is making a statement about what kind of place one should conceive the catacombs to be.