The Funeral - Édouard Manet (c. 1867)

Edouard Manet

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

This hauntingly atmospheric painting captures a small funeral procession winding through a Parisian landscape, with the dome of the Panthéon looming dramatically against a stormy sky. Manet's loose, expressive brushwork and somber palette of grays, greens, and blues create a mood of quiet melancholy, while the distant architecture grounds the scene in a recognizable Left Bank setting. Painted during a period of personal loss, the work is believed to relate to the death of the poet Charles Baudelaire, a close friend of the artist. Its unfinished, sketch-like quality gives it a raw emotional immediacy that distinguishes it from Manet's more polished salon works, making it a striking and contemplative addition to any wall.