Catacomb saints were the bodies of ancient Christians that were carefully exhumed from thecatacombs of Rome and sent abroad to serve asrelics of certainsaints from the 16th century to the 19th century.[1] They were typically lavishly decorated withgold andprecious stones.[2]
During theBeeldenstorm of the 16th century and continuediconoclasm of the 17th century,Catholic churches throughout Europe were systematically stripped of their religious symbols, iconography and relics. In response, theVatican ordered that thousands of skeletons be exhumed from the catacombs beneath the city and installed in towns throughoutGermany,Austria andSwitzerland. Few, if any, of the corpses belonged to people of any religious significance; though, given their burial, some may have beenearly Christianmartyrs.[3] Each was nonetheless painstakingly dressed and decorated as one of the various Catholic saints. One church spent 75gulden dressing their saint.[3]
Though selling the relics would have been consideredsimony, enterprising church officials still managed to raise funds while countering the iconoclasm by charging for transportation, decoration, induction and blessing.[2] Historian and authorDiarmaid MacCulloch compared the collection of catacomb saints by rich Bavarian families as being akin to the modern-day practice of purchasingpersonalised number plates, given that many of the saints shared the name of their patron.[4] Church officials became adept at uncovering saints related to particular wealthy families.
By the 19th century, many of the fakes had been discovered. Some were stripped of their finery and destroyed while others were placed in storage.[citation needed]
In 1803, the secularmagistrate ofRottenbuch inBavaria auctioned the town's two saints. 174 years later, in 1977, the residents of the townraised funds to have them returned.[2]
Paul Koudounaris revived interest in the catacomb saints with his 2013 bookHeavenly Bodies. In publishing the book, Koudounaris sought to find and photograph each of the extant saints.[2]
