Graveyard Geology of Chicago, Part 22: Detail of the Entablature; William Kimball Monument, Graceland Cemetery, Uptown Neighborhood (1904)

Looking eastward at the northern two-thirds of the inscription-bearing entablature. To place this section in its overall context, see Part 19 of this series.

In this last look at the Kimball Monument, let's take a moment to review what we've discussed before.

It's made, from head to toe, of Vermont's Ordovician-period Shelburne Marble, in this case quarried in West Rutland. In this fine-grained, pure-white premium grade it's a magnificent statuary stone, on par with its world-famous Italian competitor, the Carrara. But like the latter, it really should not be used outdoors in Temperate-zone, continental-climate cities. Here temperature extremes (too damned hot to too damned cold), ample precipitation (rain, freezing rain, sleet, fog, snow, snizzle, hail, and every cussed combination thereof) conspire with urban-atmosphere pollutants to degrade its calcite matrix.

Having previously looked at the worst corrosion of the marble on the monument's angel figure (Part 20 and Part 21), we can be thankful that there are other portions where the damage is much less pronounced to practically nonexistent. The ways of weathering, in both architecture and the natural landscape, can seem awfully capricious. But there's always some reason, however obscure, that one place survives better than another.

Every time I look at this shot I laugh a bit, because it is so quintessentially McKim, Mead & White (the prominent Beaux-Artsy New York firm that designed this). There are so many stock classical ornamental motifs trotted out from ancient models. All those palmettes and rosettes and and eggs-and-darts make my head swim.

The meander fret on top of the cornice looks somewhat sugared, and the sections directly below it have a lot of black crusting that may signal that calcite-gypsum conversion and soot buildup is well underway in spots sheltered from dripping water.

But the garland- and inscription-bearing frieze farther down looks almost immaculate, with the letters of the family name still cleanly etched in the stone.

To learn more about this site and 200 others in the Windy City, make it your top personal priority to get a copy of my book Chicago in Stone and Clay, described at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501765063/chicago-i...

And to peruse the other photos and descriptions in this series, pay a visit to my Cemetery Science album.

Taken in: United States / Illinois / Chicago / Buena Park (show map)

Taken on: February 5, 2019

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Camera: NIKON COOLPIX A10, 113mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	NIKON COOLPIX A10
Focal Length:	113mm
ISO:	80
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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