Size: 18 x 12 inches.

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This lovely frameable print, from a photo taken by Morbid Anatomy founder Joanna Ebenstein in 2013, shows a manifestation of what is called “The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead” as seen at Cimitero delle Fontanelle in Naples, Italy. This photograph was included in Heaven, Hell and Purgatory: Visions of the Afterlives in the Catholic Tradition at Green-Wood Cemetery.

In what is called the Neapolitan Skull Cult or the Neapolitan Cult of the Dead, women adopt anonymous skulls stored at an underground ossuary in Naples. The women care for the skulls—building them homes, as seen here—and pray and leave offerings intended to shorten the related souls’ time in Purgatory. It is expected that once the souls reach Heaven, they will help their benefactors.

Joanna Ebenstein is a Brooklyn-based writer, curator, photographer and graphic designer. She is the creator of the Morbid Anatomy blog, library and event series, and was cofounder and creative director of the recently shuttered Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn. Her books include Death: A Graveside Companion, The Anatomical Venus and Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy. Her work explores the intersections of art and medicine, death and culture, and the objective and subjective.

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