The Living Dead: Inside the Palermo Crypt

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 aregular contributor to Il Diario della Settimana and Marie Claire.