The Empire of Death--author talk & signing by Dr. Paul Koudounaris October 27, 2011

The Brand Library will host a talk and book signing with author Paul Koudounaris who will discuss his new publication The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses on Thursday, October 27, at 7:00 pm in the Brand Library Recital Hall. This author appearance is one of just a handful that are currently scheduled to take place in Southern California and the Brand Library is proud to make it possible for Angelenos to meet the author and hear him speak about his experience researching and writing the book.

Dr. Koudounaris conducted research for this remarkable book in seventy countries on four continents. This unique publication explores elaborately decorated charnels, tombs and chapels that use human bones as both decorative and symbolic objects. Koudounaris’ riveting photographs feature human skeletons adorned in precious metals and jewels and chapels with walls and ceilings completely covered by human skulls. The author explains that his “photographs and text recover [the] history” of these masterpieces “and the history of the religious movement which gave birth to them. This is not a book about the macabre or death. It is a book about beauty and salvation.”

Official Website: http://www.brandlibrary.org/brand_lecture_TheEmpireofDeath_PaulKoudounaris_102711.asp