JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post Part of the History of Holes series
While browsing a volume of the Scientific American (Scientific American Supplement #1453, November 7, 1903) I came across a picture of the Columbarium of the Villa Codini, Licinian Gardens, Rome, and then within a minute I came upon a similar scene just dozens of pages away–a striking likeness, though this time the sculpted openings were for the living. It showed a lecture being delivered to inmates of a criminal sanatorium, hearing about the evils of alcohol, each prisoner stored away in his own little box. “Columbarium” comes from the Latin word (“columba”) for “dove-cote”, and it is easy to see the similarity between the sepulchral images.
There is another image that I’ve saved but which has no reference for origin. It depicts prisoners in a European institution attending a Sunday service:
