The Empire of Death

A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses

  • 3 Want to read
Locate

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today

  • 3 Want to read

Buy this book

Last edited by Star Squirrel
April 3, 2024 | History

The Empire of Death

A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses

  • 3 Want to read

From bone fetishism in the ancient world to painted skulls in Austria and Bavaria: an unusual and compelling work of cultural history.

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.

Publish Date
Publisher
Thames & Hudson
Language
English
Pages
224

Buy this book

Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Published in
New York, New York

Classifications

Library of Congress
CC77.B8 K68 2011, NA6130, NA6143 .K68 2011

The Physical Object

Pagination
224 pages :
Number of pages
224

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL25155268M
ISBN 13
9780500251782
LCCN
2011922572
OCLC/WorldCat
711052025

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

This work does not appear on any lists.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
April 3, 2024 Edited by Star Squirrel Edited without comment.
December 22, 2022 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
December 12, 2022 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
November 2, 2021 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
December 31, 2011 Created by LC Bot Imported from Library of Congress MARC record