Plaster, 1925-26. Size 124 x 99 x 26 cm. Inv. no. 189. Donated to the museum by Niels Hansen Jacobsen.

A metaphor of sorrow

The relief depicts a nude little girl, kneeling with her face hidden in one hand and a funeral wreath in the other. Niels Hansen Jacobsen used a female figure with a wreath several times as a metaphor of sorrow. The figure "Sorrow," which shows a young woman walking along sadly holding a wreath, was erected on June 6, 1924, at Gram Cemetery as a memorial to the parish's fallen, and was later incorporated into the sculpture group "Playing to the Tune of Life" (1932-1934).

The tombstone

The relief was carved in stone and forms the tombstone on the grave of Louise and Christian Mikkelsen at Odense Cemetery. The motif is found on a ceramic sketch, which can be seen at the museum. A similar motif is found on the Lauridsen Family monument at Vejen Cemetery, but the angel here has the body of a full-grown woman.