A TOMBSTONE LIKE NO OTHER

Places of last rest are sometimes a part of city tours. It is no wonder because it is the remains of personalities who have entered the world history in literature or art that can be found there. They are also the places where outstanding sculptors and stonemasons did their work to honour these titans.

Among them are wonders of sculpture and extraordinarily original monuments. One of these places is the municipal cemetery in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris. It is an Orthodox cemetery where more than 15,000 Russian emigrants are buried, mostly refugees from Russia after the October Revolution, and their descendants. Many important people are buried at the cemetery. The famous director Andrej Tarkovskiy; Ivan Bonin, a laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature; count Felix Yusupov, a participant in the Rasputin assassination, are among them.

One of the greatest ballet dancers of history, Rudolf Nuruyev, is also buried there. This artist escaped to the West in 1961. In the end, he joined the Paris Opera and became its director in 1983. He died of AIDS in 1993. His tombstone was designed by his Italian friend Ezio Frigerio whom he met him when he was designing the scenography for the Romeo and Juliet ballet.

The design of the tombstone points to the origin of the dancer, who came from a traditional Tatar Muslim family, and to Nuruyev’s passion for collecting beautiful rugs and antique textiles. The tombstone consists of a mosaic that looks like a rug. It is a very realistic work of art. This tombstone is one of the main attractions of the cemetery. Its unusual concept and the perfect work are definitely worth the notice.

Source: Kurier Kamieniarski

Author: Kurier Kamieniarski   |   Published: 3.3.2021