Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780500251782)

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.

Author: Paul Koudounaris
ISBN-10: 0500251789
ISBN-13: 9780500251782
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Language: English
Published: 10/24/2011
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 3.40lbs
Size: 12.20h x 9.00w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/30/2012