Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures & Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs

ISBN-13: 9780500251959 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 192 str.

Paul Koudounaris

Opis

In 1578 news came of the discovery in Rome of a labyrinth of underground tombs, which were thought to hold the remains of thousands of early Christian martyrs. Skeletons of these supposed saints were subsequently sent to Catholic churches and religious houses in German-speaking Europe to replace holy relics that had been destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. The skeletons, known as "the catacomb saints," were carefully reassembled, richly dressed in fantastic 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 access to religious 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, some of these ornamented skeletons appear in publication here for the first time

Recenzje

'It's utterly spectacular, hugely interesting and almost unbelievable' - All About History

Spis treści

Introduction: Blessed Bones - 1. Holy Bodies: Relics and the Roman Catacombs - 2. The Church Triumphant: Constructing the Catacomb Saints - 3. Communal Property: Jeweled Skeletons and Civic Identity 4. The Mighty Will Fall: The End of the Reign of the Catacomb Saints Notes, Acknowledgments, List of Sites, Index

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.