Warning: This website contains subject matter that relates to death and funery practices; graphic images relating to these topics will be included. Some of the bodies depicted on this website met a violent death and others may still have living relations. Please be advised about these concerns before viewing the website.
Importance of the Capucinni Catacombs
The catacombs of Palermo that we know today are associated with the Capuchin Convent of Palermo which was built in the 16th century. Initially, the created hypogeum housed one deceased friar. In the XVII century, when it was realized that the dry environmental conditions of the underground chamber dried out the body, other friars were laid to rest in the crypt. The first friar to be interred was Silvestro da Gubbio, who died in 1599 (1). He remains there today in the oldest area. Hsi placement prompted the creation of the Palermo catacombs, which was established in order to fulfill a religious ritual. Initially, only friars could be intered there until the practice evolved. This creation catered to the ecclesiastic community of the neighbouring area. (1)
As alluded to in the Page about the history of Palermo the practices regarding who could be placed within the catacombs changed over time. Due to these changes, the people placed in the catacombs were divided into designated hallways based on their social status. This is similar to the placement pattern of social organization and class within conventional cemeteries.
When word had spread that bodies were miraculously preserved in the underground chambers, many people were interested in being buried there. In 1634, Don Carlo Agliata and his wife Giuseppina were the first nobles who were granted permission to be buried in the catacombs. This opened the floodgates and many people opted to be preserved in the underground chambers (4). Being placed in the catacombs denoted status and power in the Capuchin community.
Friar Silvestro da Gubbio: the first person to be placed in the Palermo Catacombs in 1599.
The Religious Background
Historical documents attest to this, as they indicate the demographicinformation of many Sicilians and denote their social status(1). Eventually, these limitations were not enforced and the bodies of priests, men, women, children and infants lay together, side by side, rich and poor (2 p. 49).
“Incorruptibles” is a Catholic notion that if people (saints and religious folk) have led a faithful and pure life, then their bodies are so holy that they will not decay (2). Those who have been considered to be “incorruptibles” are left on display in order to demonstrate respect for them. This concept most likely inspired the initial exhibit of the bodies of friars, as the first bodies to be put in the catacombs were later discovered to have been preserved exceptionally well without having been embalmed. However, it should be noted that once a body is embalmed, which is the deliberate preservation of a body, it is not considered to be “incorruptible.”
Artistic Representaion of Colonel Enea DiGuiliano in military outfit
http://thefigureoffun.blogspot.ca/2010/11/museum-of-dead-in-palermo_08.html
"Incorruptibles"
Interior of the Cathedral attached to the Monastery of Palermo
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/268149603_d456133af3_b.jpg
Fashion at Palermo
Famous People of Palermo
A distinguishing factor of the Palermo Catacombs is that most bodies are fully clothed. Men are dressed in uniform and military outfits, monks in robes and women in dresses. Women are often clothed in finery and up to date fashions of their era, decked out in “silk dresses with lace and ruffles, hats and bonnets” (4). This lavish wear creates a stark contrast to their gaunt, decayed faces and hands. It is an uncommon site that can come off as “hideously comical” (4). We are unused to having the dead participate in our daily lives, it can be “ghoulish” (2, p. 32).
One individual’s account of their visit in 1837 describes their shock at seeing a young woman that they recognized dressed in a white gown that she had worn to a ball, complete with white slippers, a belt and a jewelled watch. Though the clothes were splendid, it was juxtaposed against her new appearance:
Her face was bare, the skin dry, black and shrivelled, like burnt paper; the cheeks sunken; the rosy lips a piece of discoloured parchment; the teeth horribly projecting; the nose gone; a wreath of roses around her head; and a long tress of hair curling in each hollow eye. (as cited from Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petra and the Holy Land, 1837) (2)
This poetic description remarkably describes the peculiar practice of preservation in such an overt and deliberate manner. The monks of Capuchin have created a world unlike any other, where the dead and the living engage with each other.
Proceed to our page about interaction with the dead to learn more about these encounters.
Notable individuals interred in the Palermo Catacombs include:
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Colonel Enea DiGuiliano (buried in French Uniform)
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Salvatore Manzella (famous surgeon)
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Lorenzo Marabitti (sculptor)
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Filipo Pennino (sculptor)
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Velázquez -alledgedly- (Spanish painter)
The Woman in the White Dress
Woman dressed fashionably
http://thefigureoffun.blogspot.ca/2010/11/museum-of-dead-in-palermo_08.html
Sources:
(1) Sineo, Luca, Barbara Manachini, Giuseppe Carotenuto, Dario Piombino-Mascali, AR ZINK, and Franco Palla. "The Palermo Capuchin Catacombs Project: a multidisciplinary approach to the study of a modern Mummy Collection (ca 1600-1900)." Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage 8, no. 1 (2008): 155-165.
(2) Brier, Bob. "The Well-Dressed Dead." Archaeology, 2003: 32-35.
(3)Jeremiah, Ken. "Catacombs in Palermo." In Christian Mummification. London: Mcfarland & Company Inc. Publishers, 2012.
(4) Figure of Fun. "Museum of the Dead in Palermo." http://thefigureoffun.blogspot.ca/2010/11/museum-of-dead-in-palermo_08.html
Other:
http://www.catholicapologetics.info/library/gallery/incorrupt.html
Header Image:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00666/capuchin-catacombs-_666933c.jpg
