Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Conrad Stubenbord  Nov. 23, 1848 July 22, 1913

Ernestine Stubenbord Sept 12, 1847 Dec 21, 1936

The Stubenbord-Sutherland rose-colored polished granite monument in the Green-Wood Cemetery at Brooklyn, New York, is an example of an exedra.  An exedra is a semi-circular structure, often with a bench with a high back. This type of classical architectural device was designed in antiquity to facilitate philosophical discussion and debate. In cemetery architecture the exedra is usually part of a landscape design.

This monument also has a mourning figure sitting in the exedra, holding a sprig of ivy, a symbol of fidelity and immortality.  On the corners of the exedra in bronze insets are inverted torches. The flames coming from the bottom of the torches are symbolic of the soul. Here the inverted torches represent a life that has been extinguished.  The other bronze insets feature palm leaves a common symbol of victory over death.