After the “rediscovery” of the Roman catacombs in 1578, the Catholic Church began exporting the relics of early Christian martyrs across Europe and beyond. Between 1578 and 1803, the duchy of Bavaria received almost 400 of these “catacomb saints,” whose sparkling bodies still rest on altars across the region to this day. In almost every case, however, churches did not receive whole skeletons from the catacombs and what appear to be full bodies are, in fact, complicated constructions made from available bones and meticulously carved wooden replacements.
How and why did early modern Bavarians build such bodies rather than leaving them in pieces? Using several case studies, this paper will examine the construction and decoration process required to transform bone fragments into “holy bodies,” with special attention to the materials, medical and artisanal knowledge and labor that was required to create them. I will demonstrate that the creation of these bodies was a team effort including artists and physicians familiar with human anatomy; carpenters and metalsmiths who carved missing bones and built custom support structures for the “bodies;” and nuns skilled in the decorative technique known as Klosterarbeit (cloister work) who covered the saints remains in jewels, pearls and gilded wire. In closing, I will briefly discuss why early modern Bavarians so insistently presented these saints as whole bodies, arguing that this approach facilitated both the development of intensely local cults and tied these communities to larger movements in the post-Reformation Catholic Church.
