The Wings of Angels in Green-Wood Cemetery

I often go to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn to look for birds, especially during fall and summer migrations. Founded in 1838, the cemetery has the graves of such dignitaries as Leonard Bernstein, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Horace Greeley. It is a National Historic Landmark and Revolutionary War historic site. Walking through the cemetery can be a walk through New York's history, and a place to reflect quietly on life, and death.

I've added music to the video. Walking through Green-Wood, I often remember the words and music of Hansel and Gretel: "When at night I go to sleep,/Fourteen angels watch do keep." Engelbert Humperdinck wrote the music and his sister, Adelheid Wette, the libretto, and I've included Woody Regan's recording of the piano accompaniment of “Abendsegen," as well as Jingle Punks' instrumental version of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

A few years ago I began photographing the angels that guard the remains of so many buried in the cemetery. Angels can provide comfort to the living, and we often look for them in churches and religious celebrations. Angels play a big role in celebrations of Christmas, since, according to Scripture, angels announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds (angels are God's messengers, according to many believers).

I am very taken by the depictions of angels over the graves of loved ones, and this short film shows some of the Green-Wood angels I have photographed. It is presented in the form of a slide show.

Last year I included a video of the angels of Green-Wood, and some of those angels are included as photographs in this video. The 2020 video is below.