When macabre meets over the top opulence…this is what you get.
Gristly human remains. Ornate jewels. Not staged by a brilliant design house (anyone else getting a little Alexander McQueen from this?) but rather ripped out of Europe’s history. These remains date back to the 15th and 16th centuries and are “catacomb saints.” Apparently saints were way more blinged out than I thought. These photos are courtesy of photographer Paul Koudounaris, who is the only person who has been allowed to photograph these beauties. Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs comes out next month, and I can’t wait ’til it’s on my coffee table. I originally read about this on Gawker and this news article has some further insight on the history of these very luxe corpses.
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