[HouseAtreides]

For those of you who don't know, Rosalia Lombardo was a 2-year-old Italian child who passed away in 1920 from pneumonia. Her father, in his grief, hired an experimental embalmer to preserve her body for eternity before placing her on display in the Capuccin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily. The technique, which remained a secret until the embalmer's papers were discovered around 2009-ish, was so successful that Rosalia has been known for decades as the "Sleeping Beauty", as her body remained perfectly preserved for at least 80 years.

I've been following the story of Rosalia Lombardo since about 2010, and several times a year I do a google search for her to see what she looks like now. It's disappointing. Once the absolute best-preserved body in the world, she now is clearly beginning to decay. For many decades she looked, literally, like a sleeping child, or even like a doll. Not a SINGLE imperfection - no mold growth, no shriveling of skin, no sinking of the eyes. She was truly beautiful.

While she is still remarkable when compared to other mummies, it's disappointing to see the changes that have taken place in her corpse when comparing current pictures of her to pictures from the 1990s.

Pic #1 was taken in 1995. She looked perfect, angelic.

Pic #2 was taken around 2012-ish

Pic #3 was taken in 2016

Pic #4 was taken in 2017

Pic #5 is, I believe, current

Her original lead-lined, glass-topped coffin was placed in an airtight metal case that is filled with nitrogen gas in an attempt to halt further decay. However, each year that I check up on her the decay is more and more noticeable.

I won't lie that I am absolutely fascinated by this child, as morbid as that may sound. I'm fascinated by the decomposition process and equally fascinated by the halting of that process. I think a lot of it has to do with nostalgia - I don't believe that the soul exists so it's a comfort to me to think that some part of a person, if even just the shell, can persist.

[HouseAtreides]

It's kind of a relief to know that at least SOME of the changes we see to her are due to light damage (the bleaching of the hair and bow), but the discoloration on her face is likely caused by gases building up under her skin, and her cheeks are no longer as chubby as they once were.

[kellyhound]

Fascinating

The technique, which remained a secret until the embalmer's papers were discovered around 2009-ish

Are these released to the public as would be interesting to know what substances he used in the process and/or how he did it.

[Oswald2001]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

Fascinating
Are these released to the public as would be interesting to know what substances he used in the process and/or how he did it.

IIRC, alot of the old preparations contained arsenic compounds.

Sooner or later though, microbes win.

[HouseAtreides]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

Fascinating
Are these released to the public as would be interesting to know what substances he used in the process and/or how he did it.

He used formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. I believe they were all equal amounts and injected into her circulatory system.

[Zeeta]

What a shame, I'd love to visit the catacombs & see her in person.

[Oswald2001]

Originally Posted by HouseAtreides ↗

He used formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. I believe they were all equal amounts and injected into her circulatory system.

I just found this.

[K53]

R.I.P.