Funeral torch

Italy

c. 1720

Gilded and painted wood and wrought iron

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A funerary torch is a symbol of life in a ritual commemorating death. This torch would have accompanied a catafalque: a large, architectural structure that displays the coffin of an important person in catholic funeral rites. Catafalques were used primarily in catholic European cities from the 16th to 19th centuries, though they are still used on occasion for large, public funeral rituals, such as those for the pope. The presence of a torch as a symbol of life, though seemingly contradictory to a funerary setting, visually reinforces the idea of resurrection held sacred in Catholic beliefs about death. The complex relationship betwe