11/1/2025 The Tragic Beauty of Victorian Funerals explores how grief became an art form during the 19th century. In an era obsessed with death, mourning was steeped in ritual and romance — from black lace veils and jet jewelry to horse-drawn hearses and floral wreaths shaped like hearts or crosses. The Victorians saw funerals not as mere farewells, but as deeply symbolic displays of love, faith, and social status. Behind the elegance, however, lingered sorrow and superstition — séances, mourning photography, and memento mori art reflected a desperate longing to hold on to the dead. It was a time when beauty softened tragedy, and death became an extension of devotion.