Dem Bones

I heard an interview with art historian Paul Koudounaris about his new book The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses. Very interesting stuff. Here are a couple samples from the book.







He focuses on the Western cultural traditions but apparently there are some Eastern examples as well. Most of places he visited were created post-Renaissance but the Christian practice dates back to the 6th century or so and he includes some photos of Medieval sites and a modern example or two as well.

The use of bone as "decorative veneration" seems so foreign, so morbid to us today. Yet, as Koudounaris explains, these places were meant to be beautiful works of art. Many of these places were hidden away in churches so the intended audience was composed of priests, monastic officials, &c. and not a bunch of aberrant goofballs out on the fringe. This was serious, mainstream Christian stuff that had a role in salvation.