- Rosalia Lombardo
Rosalia Lombardo was an Italian child born in 1918 in
Palermo , Sicily. She died on the 6th of December 1920. It is thought that she died from a bronchial infection. She was one of the last corpses to be admitted to theCapuchin catacombs of Palermo inSicily . Due to a preservation process by Dr. Alfredo Salafia, the child appears as if she were only sleeping, hence receiving the name "Sleeping Beauty" . Rosalia Lombardo's body is kept in a small chapel at the end of the catacomb's tour and is encased in a glass covered coffin, placed on a marble pedestal.Aside from a flat and somewhat unnatural skin tone, Rosalia's body is remarkably well preserved. Many say she appears to be sleeping, and this may have been the case for some time after her death; however, it is quite obvious today she is deceased.
The mummification techniques used by Dr. Alfredo Salafia, which allegedly involved a chemical injection process are still a mystery as Dr. Salafia never revealed this particular technique in his lifetime. It is difficult for many to believe that Dr. Salafia developed such a complex procedure or a chemical compound entirely independent of other experts in the field of preservation. Methods for embalming are generally developed over time by experimentation guided by new understandings of anatomy and chemistry. If Dr. Salafia was not in commmunication with other preservation experts, and had in fact developed the method entirely independently he would likely have required multiple "subjects" to experiment on before achieving the quality seen with Rosalia Lombardo. It is more likely that he used methods which he learnt privately from other embalmers, and modified these methods with his own medical knowledge. There is also no evidence that he did not educate others before his death since chemically preseved corpses are not particularly rare.
References
* [http://members.tripod.com/~Motomom/index-3.html KING'S CAPUCHINS' CATACOMBS OF PALERMO ITALY]
* [http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/sicily/catacomb.asp Catacombs in Rome]
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