Capuchin Crypt Rome

                                       

                                "What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..."

For lovers of the macabre, a trip to Rome is not complete without visiting the Capuchin Crypt underneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini.

Although the crypt's six rooms are tiny, it is estimated that they house 3,700 bodies of long deceased Capuchin Friars. It began in 1631 when the monks arrived at the site with 300 cartloads of expired friars which were then arranged into beautiful motifs overseen by Fr. Michael of Bergamo.

Over the years a newly lifeless monk would be buried in the grave of the oldest deceased monk who would be exhumed, and slowly the bones started amounting (though I believe not all the bones are of monks- some are of citizens including children). The soil the monks were buried in was brought over from Jerusalem.

There are six different rooms as follows: The Crypt of the Resurrection, The Mass Chapel (not containing any bones), The Crypt of the Skulls,  The Crypt of the Pelvises, The Crypt of the Leg and Thigh Bones and The Crypt of the Three Skeletons.

Crypt of the Skulls

Crypt of the Pelvises

Crypt of the Leg and Thigh Bones

Crypt of the Three Skeletons

 Inside these rooms you will find human bones that adorn the ceiling in beautifully intricate designs and patterns. The artistry is divine and the simplicity of the repeating body parts to create compositions and specific motifs like hour glasses, frames and arrangements that are almost botanic is really quite inspiring. 

Ceiling of the Crypt of the Three Skeletons

*Please note that being such a sacred place photography was strictly forbidden, so none of the above images are my own, but sourced from other sites. 

Sedlec Ossuary

If you like your travel experiences to involve death and the reminder of mortality, then the top of your list should be the Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora, just outside of Prague in the Czech Republic. 

I went for my birthday and the irony of spending the day of my birth in a place filled with thousands or corpses was not lost on me. In fact it was a nice reminder of the temporality of life, and that there can still be beauty in death even after the flesh has melted from our bones. 

The Sedlec Ossuary is said to contain a small amount of earth from Golgotha that the abbot from the Cistercian monastery brought back from the holy land in the late 13th Century. When news of this spread, the (then) cemetery became a very popular burial ground among people. Of course use of the cemetery only grew after the black death in the mid 14th Century. 

A chapel was built in the middle of the cemetery with a lower level to house the bones exhumed from the site. The beautiful and macabre result of the arranged bones that we see today did not happen until 1870 when František Rint, a woodcarver was employed to arrange the piles of osseous matter. 

Well worth the travel, this place is at the top of my list so far for intrigue, fascination and morbidity. 

It has been a very long time since I have had time to add to this blog, but I recently went to an interesting exhibition at the british library that gave motivation to find the time to write.  The exhibition was called  Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, and houses 200 interesting objects and artefacts that trace the gothic imagination back 250 years to Horace Walpole's novel The Castle of Ontranto, which is believed to have inspired the whole gothic genre. 

Other interesting features also include authentic drafts of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a 'Vampire Slaying Kit' and my personal favourite- the infamous 'Dear Boss' letter from our old pal Jack the Ripper. 

Though photography was unfortunately not permitted I have managed to scrape together some images to get you in the mood. The exhibition is on until January 20th  2015.

A while back I went on a trip with some friends to Norfolk. We passed through Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk on the way back and went for a stroll through the medieval ruins of the abbey.

While I won't give an account here of the history of this place (I am certainly not an historian), this image of course caught my eye when doing a bit of research.

Five abbots graves excavated in 1903 after a manuscript was discovered in France revealing the location of the Abbey's abbots.  

While I unfortunately didn't get time to explore the whole town I did come across some fantastic skull adorned gravestones in a small cemetery near the abbey. I can't seem to find any information on them but thought I would post the images for the sake of aesthetics and curiosity. Needless to say, when I finally leave this earth someone had better be sorting out some sweet skulls for my gravestone.

The Art of Joel-Peter Witkin

Story From A Book (1999)

The work of Joel-Peter Witkin has fascinated me since I was introduced to it at the age of 16. My photography teacher at the time allowed me to look at a book she had on him in her office (though many if the pages had been removed). I would leaf through the book daily, absolutely drawn into the images for a reason I could not understand. I realise now, that this was when I first made the discovery that art could be beautiful and prepossessing, while still being filled with horror, and that bodies could be sublime and alluring, though they may be deformed, corrupted or dismembered.

I view his images with a painter's eye. Partly due to his established technique of referencing famous paintings, but also due to the tried and tested historical art elements he uses- still life, often traditional compositions and figure positioning, and let us of course not forget the post production techniques he uses on his negatives. 

Witkin's work has expectedly been the focus of much controversy through his subject matter of corpses and people often seen as being on the border of what society deems to be normal. The words 'shock value' immediately come to mind, but I think his photographs show a delicate beauty and refinement that can negate these knee jerk reactions and condemnations of exploitation. His work is confrontational and emotional, exploring the time-honoured themes of mortality, Eros and Thanatos, and challenging paradigms of beauty and religion.

For your ocular pleasure:

Anna Akhmatova (1998)

Woman on a Table (1987)

The Kiss (1982)

Poussin in Hell, Paris, (1999)

I am a bit obsessed with anatomical studies and drawings at the moment, so I took myself along to the Doctors, Dissection & Resurrection Men exhibition on at the Museum of London. What a treat. Not only was there a sufficient amount of ominous, moody lighting, there was also such items as an authentic wooden dissecting table (1750-1870), a patented iron coffin (to stop grave robbing) belonging to a Mrs Campbell who died in 1819, a small, bottled specimen of the brain of the famous William Burke (1829) and many dissection and amputation kits, just to name a few. I was in my ghoulish happy place.

Specimen of William Burkes brain. A wee keepsake. 

This fantastic exhibition came about after an extensive excavation at the Royal London Hospital in 2006. A puzzling mix of bones were discovered at a forgotten burial site in use between 1825-1841, which showed evidence of dissection, amputation, post-mortems, and bones being wired together to create articulated skeletons for teaching aids. The burial ground was used for the bodies of the hospital patients who were not claimed by family or friends. Many of the skulls were missing as they were probably of particular interest so were kept. Interestingly, there were also a few animal skeletons found in the graves, used for comparative anatomy (including a turtle and a monkey).

Of course aside from the all the skeletal remains and grotesque, yet surprisingly shiny surgical equipment, there were stunning anatomical drawings, etchings, wax figures, and satirical artworks.

Wax castings of diseased hands. 

'The Reward of Cruelty' 1751

William Hogarth

But the best must always be saved until last, and this piece almost gave me a nose bleed I thought it was so great. It wasn't just surgeons who liked cutting up dead people- artists partook in this activity too. The two often had a close relationship, and in 1801, in a bid to prove that most crucifixion depictions were anatomically incorrect, the surgeons Thomas Banks and Joseph Constantine Carpue teamed up with artists Benjamin West and Richard Cosway.  James Legg had just been executed for murdering a fellow pensioner, and the team of artists and surgeons wasted no time in taking him fresh from the gallows, nailing him to a cross, removing his skin, and making a plaster cast. 

'Anatomical Crucifixion of James Legg' 1801

Thomas Banks 

It may seem grisly, but this is a beautiful commentary on the scientific study of anatomy, corporal punishment, history, religion and art. 

Welcome to the Tour

The Zanelli Tour of the Macabre started as a travel concept to visit the grim and macabre locations and tourist attractions that Europe has to offer. My purpose was artistic inspiration, and of course morbid curiosity. The idea soon evolved however, into a collection of artwork, ideas, and travel destinations that are intriguing, beautiful, and always a bit dark.

Thank you for joining me, I hope you enjoy the tour.