The Empire of Death

Thursday, October 27, 7 p.m.

Brand Library Recital Hall

Los Angeles art historian and author Paul Koudounaris presents his new publication, The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses (Thames & Hudson, October 2011).

From the Publisher:

In this tour de force of original cultural history, Paul Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This is the first book to bring together the world's most important charnel sites, ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy and the skull-encrusted columns of the ossuary in Évora in Portugal, to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman decorated with the exhumed skeletons of his Spanish ancestors. Illustrated with specially taken photographs of sites rarely open to the public and forgotten archive images of others long destroyed, this mesmerising, shocking and deeply moving book is an essential memento mori for our modern age. For more info about the book click here.

Visit author Paul Koudounaris' website

Visit the publishers website

Download the postcard

PRESS

• See pictures on the BBC History Magazine website
• Listen to the author's interview with KPCC's Madeleine Brand Show (9/21/2011)
• Read the article on The beinArt International Surreal Art Collective's website
• Read the review by Tanja M. Laden on the FLAVORWIRE culture blog