Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Valeriya Salt

Valeriya is a native of Belarus and has lived for many years in Ukraine and Russia before settling down in the north of England. She has an M.A. in Art Expertise from the St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts. She has published many short stories and essays in various anthologies and magazines.

“Kutna Hora’s Ossuary Gallery: Memento Mori” is a brief essay on the artwork created from bones in the ossuary at Kutna Hora, in the Czech Republic. It is, of course, one of many similar displays that can be found in widespread parts of the world. After all, the literary topic memento mori has a Latin name because it is very old.

The essay considers the artistic styles of the Kutna Hora display, including those of the Baroque era. What can art tell us about a society’s conception of death? How does ours differ from that of centuries past?

Valeriya Salt’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Valeriya. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!