Oscar Wilde’s Tomb Kissed to Death

The writer Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland, he flourished in England, and he died destitute in Paris, France.

His grave is in the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. On the 111th anniversary of his death on Wednesday, his refurbished tomb was officially unveiled.

It seems the sculpture that adorns the grave had been damaged by the many visitors who planted kisses on the stone monument, leaving their lipstick behind.

Anchor Lisa Mullins gets details from Sheila Pratschke with the Irish Cultural Center in Paris.

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Lisa Mullins: The writer Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland. He flourished in England and he died destitute in France. His grave is in the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Today, on the 111th anniversary of Oscar Wilde’s death his now refurbished gravesite has been officially unveiled. Seems that the sculpture that adorns the grave had been damaged by visitors planting kisses on the stone.

Merlin Holland: It was quite literally covered in kisses. I’m sure people were standing on each other’s shoulders. There was even one kiss on the angel’s lips. And once the color of the lipstick fades what is left is a grease spot. And if there’s a lot of lipstick it sinks deeply into the stone and trying to get it out, even in some cases with solvents, simply makes it migrate even further into the stone. But I think we have caught it in time.

Mullins: Now that’s Oscar Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, who attended the ceremony at Wilde’s gravesite this morning. And so did Sheila Pratschke, director of the Irish Cultural Center in Paris. Sheila, how many kisses are we talking about on Oscar Wilde’s grave?

Sheila Pratschke: I think we are talking about thousands. It was initially a blur of red, purple, pink and taupe colored lipsticks. Also there was graffiti, so it was a real mess.

Mullins: That does sound like a mess. By the way, Sheila, do you find this, I mean Oscar Wilde being a son of Ireland, do you find the kisses planted upon his tombstone disgusting or enchanting?

Pratschke: Oh, I think it’s pretty disgusting because apart from the measure of honor in Wilde himself, the sculpture by Jacob Epstein, which is a work of art in its own right, and when it is covered in kisses and graffiti you really couldn’t see it. You couldn’t see how it floats. It’s an ethereal angel with extraordinary wings in Portland stone, it is a work of art which for itself should be respected.

Mullins: So one shouldn’t mistake it with kissing the Blarney Stone.

Pratschke: No, not at all.

Mullins: How come it was allowed to get so bad? Was nobody at Pere Lachaise in charge of cleaning it up?

Pratschke: No, because it’s an expert job. And Merlin Harland had it cleaned a number of years ago, but he wasn’t in a position to put up a protective barrier and within a matter of months it was as bad as ever again. So we got sufficient funds from the Irish government both to clean the gravestone and the sculpture, which adorns it, properly and to put a glass protective barrier. And it’s all relatively beautiful now.

Mullins: Okay, and this glass protective barrier extends about halfway up the tomb, it surrounds it, it’s a 360. It sounds like it’s to keep visitors away, or at least their lips, away from the stone. Can they not kiss the glass though?

Pratschke: Well, if they kiss the glass we can turn a power hose on it, that’s the thinking. But we hope that is a practice that will now be translated into another way of showing honor — leaving a flower or leaving a note, doing something which is not destructive. And hopefully it will give the message not so much stay away, but please respect me.

Mullins: What was it like at the ceremony today? What did you tell the assembled?

Pratschke: It was incredible really. It was a wonderful mixture of sort of lightness and seriousness, both Rupert Everett and Merlin Harland made very moving addresses and very moving statements. And Merlin finished by laying a green flower in memory of the green carnations that Oscar Wilde used to wear by the grave. And we had about 100 flowers in buckets that each person came up and laid their own flower. And we hope that that will be an example to people in the future.

Mullins: Anybody quote Oscar Wilde today?

Pratschke: Well, yes, indeed, Rupert Everett read from De Profundis, which was the epistle Oscar Wilde wrote from Reading Gaol to Lord Alfred Douglas, and it’s a mixture of love, sorrow, bitterness, resignation — a really extraordinary piece of work and he did a beautiful reading.

Mullins: Well, I guess love, sorrow, resignation, maybe bitterness and now, restoration, at least of the grave, all apply.

Pratschke: Exactly.

Mullins: Sheil Pratschke, with the Irish Cultural Center in Paris. Thank you very much.

Pratschke: Thank you.

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