Paul Koudounaris, an expert on bone-decorated places and ossuaries, has published a book titled Heavenly Bodies featuring photographs of 400-year-old "catacomb saints" from Rome - corpses that were ornamented with jewels and dressed as relics of saints. During the Protestant Reformation, these relics were often stripped from Catholic churches. In response, the Vatican had skeletons removed from the Catacombs of Rome and decorated as the remains of recognized saints. Koudounaris' book attempts to locate and photograph each of the surviving "tomb saints." The saints were once transported across Europe and respected as objects of devotion, though they may seem strange today.
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The term “Coffin” is usually applied to the rectangular or anthropoid container in which the Egyptians placed the mummified body, whereas the word “Sarcophagus” (Greek: “Flesh-Eating”) is used to refer only to the stone outer container, invariably encasing one or more coffins. The distinction made between these two items of Egyptian funerary equipment is therefore essentially an artificial one, since both shared the same role of protecting the body of the deceased. In terms of decoration and shape, coffins and sarcophagi drew on roughly the same iconographic stylistic repertoire
This week we look at the vast range of things that have been made by humans in various times and places, considering them by the uses to which they have been put.
The term “Coffin” is usually applied to the rectangular or anthropoid container in which the Egyptians placed the mummified body, whereas the word “Sarcophagus” (Greek: “Flesh-Eating”) is used to refer only to the stone outer container, invariably encasing one or more coffins. The distinction made between these two items of Egyptian funerary equipment is therefore essentially an artificial one, since both shared the same role of protecting the body of the deceased. In terms of decoration and shape, coffins and sarcophagi drew on roughly the same iconographic stylistic repertoire
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A slideshow connected to a lecture on Art and Cultural Heritage Looting and Destruction available at Art History Teaching Resources (http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/), written by Rhonda Reymond.
An intro to early medieval art: Christianity, Barbarians, Vikings, illuminated manuscripts, Carolingian era art and architecture, Charlemagne, Sutton Hoo, and more!
Ilaria Di Gregorio, Campli archaeological museumpaolo coen
Ilaria Di Gregorio's project work, made for Visual Arts Management's Course at the University of Teramo, run by prof. Paolo Coen. The project work focuses on the National Archaeological Museum of Campli, in Abruzzo, Italy.
AHTR Art and Cultural Heritage Looting and DestructionAHTR
A slideshow connected to a lecture on Art and Cultural Heritage Looting and Destruction available at Art History Teaching Resources (http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/), written by Rhonda Reymond.
An intro to early medieval art: Christianity, Barbarians, Vikings, illuminated manuscripts, Carolingian era art and architecture, Charlemagne, Sutton Hoo, and more!
Ilaria Di Gregorio, Campli archaeological museumpaolo coen
Ilaria Di Gregorio's project work, made for Visual Arts Management's Course at the University of Teramo, run by prof. Paolo Coen. The project work focuses on the National Archaeological Museum of Campli, in Abruzzo, Italy.
This anthology of ancient and fresh archaeological artifacts paints a cohesive arc from the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution to the first empires of Uruk and Egypt, ignited around the Black Sea by the Kurgan Copper revolution.
AL4ED - Pro Art and Co - The Road Silk Landscapes and Tradition
Koudounaris’ book, Heavenly Bodies is available right away.
1. Koudounaris’ book, Heavenly Bodies is available right
away.
Paul Koudounaris, who is also identified by his nickname ‘Indiana Bones’ is an novelist,
photographer and foremost expert on bone-decorated places and ossuarys. Earlier this year,
Koudounaris released a hardback that includes hd images of the 400-year-old ‘catacomb
saints’ of Rome, a bunch of corpses that had been painstakingly ornamented with jewels and
finery prior to being offered as remnants of saints to congregations across Europe.
During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century, Catholic churches were routinely stripped of
these relics, cryptogram and finery. So as to counter this, The Vatican had very old skeletons
removed from the Catacombs of Rome and generously decorated as theremains of recognized saints.
Though mostly forgotten until Koudounaris published his book, the catacomb saints continue to
fascinate concerned parties; they can also still encourage religious zeal. In 1977, the town of
Ruttenbach in Bavaria labored hard to raise enough funds to purchase back 2 of their original saints
from secretive collectors, the decorative skeletons had initially been auctioned off in 1803.
The book, which Koudounaris has surreptitiously titled Heavenly Bodies sees its writer attempt to
locate and photograph each of the present tomb saints.
In his glory days (a period that lasted over 200 years before finally coming to a close within the 19th
century), the saints traversed everywhere, being transported at vast expense by the Church. They
were respected as things of affection, or conduits for prayer.
However the saints may seem odd to modern eyes (one Telegraph reporter described them as
‘ghastly’), it is imperative that you remember that those who prayed at the feet of the gilded
cadavers were considerably closer to death than their modern counterparts. In the wake of The
Black Death (which recurred repeatedly right through Europe from the 14th to the 17th Centuries),
art, literature and also worship had come to accept such ghoulish, macabre metaphors.
The remnants were regularly garlanded by nuns and sometimes located in various realistic poses,
before being secured in glass cabinets. Some of the thorough decoration took as long as 5 years to
complete, with jewelry and costumes being exceptionally grand.
Koudounaris’ book, Heavenly Bodies is available now.