Introducing Dolly and Minerva

I've been fascinated by gravestones since I was a child. Having grown up in the northeast United States, there are many quite old cemeteries with markers dating from the 1700s. It's interesting how the styles changed over the years, reflecting the taste in art and the cultural attitudes toward death. In the early 1800s, the grim death-heads and staring angel faces gave way to the classical metaphors: urns, weeping willows, and broken columns. Many prints were sold featuring mourners at the grave site. Of course, Dolly and Minerva are a little unclear on the concept.