The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses

ISBN-13: 9780500251782 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 224 str.

Paul Koudounaris

Opis

Takes the reader on an international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This book brings together some of the world's most important charnel sites, ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy, to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman.

Recenzje

'The extraordinary displays of human bones in Europe's charnel houses may now seem utterly bewildering to us, but 'The Empire of Death' reveals fascinating insights into these misunderstood religious monuments' - Metro

Spis treści

Introduction: A Dialogue with Death - 1. Ars Moriendi: The Early Charnel Houses - 2. The Golden Age: Counter-Reformation Macabre - 3. The Triumph of Death: Nineteenth-Century Visions in Bone - 4. Heavenly Souls: Spiritualism and Mythology in The Bone Pile - 5. Forget Me Not: Ossuaries as Commemorative Sites - 6. Resurrecting the Dead: Conservation and Reconstruction

O autorze

Paul Koudounaris has a doctorate in Art History from the University of California and has written widely on European ossuaries and charnel houses for both academic and popular journals.