Vincenzo Girasoli
1.THE CHILD MUMMY
Her name was Rosalia Lombardo and she’s usually referred to as Palermo’s sleeping beauty or “the most beautiful mummy in the world”. Her body is perfectly preserved thanks to the treatments it was subjected to: injections of formalin, glycerin, zinc, alcohol and salicylic acid; her face was treated with paraffin melted in ether so as to preserve its childish puffy looks. The result is a body so well preserved that it really looks like a sleeping child – that occasionally wakes up, opening her eyes. This spooky and supernatural event was even captured on camera, but scientists rushed to explain it: the combination of the catacomb’s humidity and the flashes of cameras combined would cause a gradual photo-decomposition resulting in a sudden movement of the eyelids. This, plus the angle of the lights entering from the tiny window on the side of the wall during certain hours of the day, would “conspire” against the visitors and trick their eyes into seeing Rosalia opening her eyes.
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(Photo credit cover picture: www.costaromita.it)
