Sielu (Soul)
Bronze sculpture
Eemil Halonen 1937
Hietaniemi Cemetery
The bronze sculpture Sielu (Soul) by Eemil Halonen is on the family grave of agronomist Eelis Piilonen. It depicts a young woman sitting on the ground looking to the foreground on the right and leaning on a large urn with her right hand wrapped around it. Her left hand is touching a slightly smaller vessel on her other side. This theosophically oriented monument is marked with a quote from the New Testament in the lower part of the headstone: ‘ – – old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). An integral aspect of theosophy is the teaching of reincarnation.
The stand of the sculpture is made of black Hyvinkää granite, polished to a matte finish. Eemil Halonen had a company called Kuvanveisto (Sculpture) through which he also worked on orders for funerary sculptures. He would also draw up a detailed agreement on the terms and schedules of payment with his clients and demanded strict compliance to agreements made with subcontractors, such as stoneworks.
Photograph: Titus Verhe, Halonen Museum Foundation
Agronomist Eelis Piilonen (1879–1935)
Agronomist Eelis Piilonen (1879–1935) was born at Äänekoski in Laukaa. His father was Kalle Piilonen (1844–1919), Member of the Diet, a rich landowner and businessman, and one of the founders of the Äänekoski paper mills.
In 1905, Eelis Piilonen farmed the large Suojoki estate at Äänekoski, which he had bought from his father. There were many tenant farmers on the property. Piilonen took a positive view of the Tenant Farmer Act of 1918, which abolished the tenant farming system. All the tenant farms of the Suojoki estate became separate and independent properties in 1919 through amicable sales. In 1923, he sold the Suojoki estate, which by now had become considerably smaller, to the municipality of Äänekoski and moved to Helsinki with his wife Tyyne Kauppinen (1893–1953).
Location
Hietaniemi CemeteryHietaniemenkatu 20, 00100 Helsinki