Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs

Amazon.com Price: $19.58 (as of 09/11/2019 20:43 PST- Details)

Categories: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Description

An intriguing visual history of the veneration in European churches and monasteries of bejeweled and decorated skeletons

Death has never looked so beautiful. The fully articulated skeleton of a female saint, dressed in an intricate costume of silk brocade and gold lace, withered fingers glittering with colorful rubies, emeralds, and pearls―that is only probably the most specially photographed relics featured in Heavenly Bodies.

In 1578 news came of the discovery in Rome of a labyrinth of underground tombs, which have been thought to hold the remains of thousands of early Christian martyrs. Skeletons of these supposed saints were due to this fact sent to Catholic churches and non secular houses in German-speaking Europe to replace holy relics that had been destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. The skeletons, referred to as “the catacomb saints,” were carefully reassembled, richly dressed in implausible costumes, wigs, crowns, jewels, and armor, and posed in elaborate displays inside churches and shrines as reminders to the faithful of the heavenly treasures that awaited them after death.

Paul Koudounaris gained unprecedented get entry to to non secular institutions to reveal these fascinating historical artifacts. Hidden for over a century as Western attitudes toward both the worship of holy relics and death itself changed, a few of these ornamented skeletons appear in publication here for the first time.
105 illustrations, 90 in color

Related products

Home » Shop » Books » Subjects » Christian Books and Bibles » Churches and Church Leadership » Church History » Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs

Recent Products