Paul Koudounaris

He began writing about and photographing them for European newspapers,[4] and became an important contributor to magazines which specialize in the paranormal, such as the Fortean Times, covering unusual and spiritual phenomenon surrounding sacred remains throughout the world.

[8][9][10][11] In 2011, his ossuary research and photographs were published by Thames and Hudson as The Empire of Death,[12] the title taken from a caption at the Catacombs of Paris, one of the sites included in the book.

A host of similar, previously unknown sites were also included in the book, however, and the text created a context for understanding the construction of these types of elaborate ossuaries as a Catholic phenomenon that was initiated during the Counter-Reformation.

[13][14][15] His book Heavenly Bodies was released in 2013, and delved even deeper into study of obscure macabre art history by presenting the forgotten story of a group of skeletons taken from the Roman Catacombs in the seventeenth century and completely decorated with jewels by teams of nuns.

The book described how these bodies, known as catacomb saints, were identified as Early Christian martyrs, then sent primarily to German-speaking lands where they were decorated and placed into Catholic Churches.

He said that unlike the previous books, this one was primarily a photographic rather than historical and anthropological study, and that he intended it to be his final work on sacred human remains.

Acquiring mostly old doll and teddy bear costumes, Koudounaris would tailor them for Baba, who would model famous historical characters and popular culture figures.