More About Those Amazing Bejeweled Skeletons

Let’s give a warm welcome to… those amazing bejeweled skeletons!

Paul Koudounaris is not a man who shies away from the macabre. Though the Los Angeles-based art historian, author and photographerclaims that his fascination with death is no greater than anyone else’s, he devotes his career to investigating and documenting phenomena such as church ossuaries, charnel houses and bone-adorned shrines. Which is why, when a man in a German village approached him during a 2008 research trip and asked something along the lines of, “Are you interested in seeing a dilapidated old church in the forest with a skeleton standing there covered in jewels and holding a cup of blood in his left hand like he’s offering you a toast?” Koudounaris’ answer was, “Yes, of course.”

more–seriously, tons of fascinating stuff. You can guess my reaction to the idea of turning the skeletons into a traveling museum exhibit from this article.