The Living Dead: Inside the Palermo Crypt [Anglais] [Relié]

Of all the wonderful sights on view in Sicily, surely one of the most unusual and provocative is found in the hillside crypt above Palermo, the island's capital city. Within these vast corridors beneath a cappuccine church are thousands of niches holding mummified corpses. Because the ground was so rocky and resources scarce, it became fashionable over hundreds of years to place one's loved ones in among the cool, dry stone perches here. Tourists now visit the remains of a multitude of clerics, nobility, and families of local citizens dating from about the mid-16th century to the end of the practice around a century ago. The denizens of this awesome and mysterious place have been respectfully and beautifully photographed by the Florentine Lanza. Lanza makes art out of the slowly rotting figures, focusing on the detail of skull and bone and of the now-antique clothing that was stylish when these faithful were laid to rest. Facchi, a journalist and screenwriter who regularly contributes to Marie Claire and Il Dario della Settimana, adds her darkly imaginative narrative essay on the history of the customs and folklore surrounding this unusual celebration of death. With its large format, the book begs to be displayed, but beware, the images can be haunting (even gruesome) and as unforgettable as the place itself. For serious photography and history collections. David Nudo, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

69 color photographs. With text by Laura Facchi.

Between 1500 and 1800, the Cappuccini monks of Palermo devised a method of mummification that was so successful that, up to five hundred years later, the bodies of their dead are still astonishingly well preserved. The people they prepared for burial in the Chiesa dei Cappuccini were mostly from the higher levels of society and many are still dressed in their rich funeral clothes.

The images in this book enable us to take Palermo's history right back to the late Renaissance period, reconstructing the social and ethnic stratification of the city through the study of its dead. The accompanying text answers many questions that have intrigued archaeologists -- Who were these people? What kind of lives did they lead? Why were their bodies mummified? How was it done?

Marco Lanza is a still-life and fashion photographer working for the leading European magazines. His images have been widely exhibited, both in his native Italy and elsewhere in Europe. He now lives and works in Florence, concentrating on portrait photography, still lifes and nudes. Although his work is frequently seen in videos and CD covers, this is only his second book venture -- "Florence Gourmande" was very successful for the Italian publisher Casterman.

Laura Facchi is a freelance journalist, novelist, screenwriter and documentary film-maker. Born in Milan in 1971, her passion for narrative and reportage writing developed while she was working as an actress with an experimental theatre company; later she studied screenwriting in Milan. As an investigative journalist she has focused on social issues in Italy and elsewhere, filing reportage stories from Angola, Cambodia and Kosovo. She is a regular contributor to "Il Diario della Settimana" and "Marie Claire."