Golden filigree, intricate beadwork, and elaborate costumes adorn ancient skeletons in the handsomely illustrated Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs by Paul Koudounaris. Serving as an introduction to the forgotten legacy of the “Catacomb Saints,” the Los Angeles based author and photographer spent years researching, travelling and photographing the lavishly decorated figures. Collectively known as Katakombenheiligen, the saints were, in fact, skeletal remains dating to the early Christian era found buried deep in Roman soil—later pronounced to be early martyrs. The discovery of the catacombs in 1578, during the escalation of the Protestant Reformation was taken by Catholic leaders to be, in the author’s words, “the answer to a prayer.” Blending together historical fact and primary source narratives with his own photographs of the sumptuously decorated Katakombenheiligen, Koudounaris provides a detailed account of the evolution of their importance within the Catholic Church.
Koudounaris, who earned his PhD in Art History from UCLA in 2004, has studied ossuary structures, religious rituals, and the Baroque period extensively. The author’s first publication for Thames & Hudson, Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses (2011), quickly became a cult classic. In Heavenly Bodies, Koudounaris provides detailed accounts for many of the Katakombenheiligen as they made their way into Northern Europe, most notably Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to battle the growing influence of the Protestant movement. Woven into the larger history of the period are the smaller stories—from the nuns who provided the intricate embroidery, to legends of the catacomb saint’s healing powers, and, finally, to the parishioner ’s mourning the eventual disenfranchisement of the remains—that bring this story, ironically, to life.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Heavenly Bodies, is the process of how the largely anonymous bones were transformed into the beloved catacomb saints. Koudounaris details the process, from disinterment through much needed repair work, to the final product, such as the pure opulence of St. Valentinus whose “black-velvet biretta with gold embroidered trim is perched atop his skill to indicate his rank, and his elbow placed upon a book, symbolizing his study of the gospel.” Smart and accessible, Heavenly Bodies opens the door to this largely overlooked aspect of the Counter Reformation era. For those whose interest is piqued, the endnotes serve as a rich bibliographic resource for further excavation.
Originally published in Hi-Fructose magazine (October 2013)