From bone fetishism in the ancient world to painted skulls in
Austria and Bavaria: an unusual and compelling work of cultural
history.
It is sometimes said that death is the last taboo,
but it was not always so. For centuries, religious establishments
constructed decorated ossuaries and charnel houses that stand as
masterpieces of art created from human bone. These unique structures
have been pushed into the footnotes of history; they were part of a
dialogue with death that is now silent.
The sites in this
specially photographed and brilliantly original study range from the
Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Palermo, where the living would
visit mummified or skeletal remains and lovingly dress them; to the
Paris catacombs; to fantastic bone-encrusted creations in Austria,
Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy,
Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and
elsewhere.
Paul Koudounaris photographed more than seventy
sites for this book. He analyzes the role of these remarkable memorials
within the cultures that created them, as well as the mythology and
folklore that developed around them, and skillfully traces a remarkable
human endeavor. 290 photographs, 260 in color.
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