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GC105.JPG

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Matthews Catafalque Green-Wood Cemetery Brooklyn, New York Despite the fact that noted art critic Effie Brower found it "depraved", the Matthews monument won an award for mortuary art in 1870. The Matthews monument is in the form of a catafalque or "castra doloris", a type of tomb usually reserved for royalty. Catafalques are generally quite elaborate, full of symbolism and consist depictions of events of the departed's life. John Matthews (1808-1870), was known as the "soda fountain king", for his popularization of the soda fountain. By the time he died he owned over 500 soda fountains. On his catafalque are the faces of his daughters (in the gables) and his wife (seated above him). Prostrate and almost melting into his sarcophagus, Matthews looks up at reliefs carved into the column capitals which depict events in his life -leaving England for America, pondering the idea of soda water and finally being crowned for his achievements. Matthews Mausoleum/Catafalque Green-Wood Cemetery Brooklyn, New York