The Parsons - Van Ness pyramid is an Egyptian Revival tomb. Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798, and his book 'Description de L'Egypte' made this form of architecture popular for cemetery tombs. The Egyptian Revival style was widely criticized as unChristian however. As if to anticipate critics, Albert Ross Parsons stationed a neo-classical sculpture of Mary with the Christ Child and a sculpture of an adult Christ holding a lamb outside his tomb. Parsons was a music teacher who played organ for Trinity Church and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian. He also taught music at the Metropolitan Conservatory of Music.
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