Analisi biologiche dei resti scheletrici di San Giuseppe da Copertino

Abstract

We present the study of a peculiar case of the skeletal remains of an individual who was later recognised as a saint. According to the stories of his life he suffered a life of deprivation accompanied by physical phenomena that often considered as supernatural events. These events at least are not well defined from the scientific point of view. Anthropological analysis only allows us to conclude that this individual was a very virile, robust, almost athletic man, inspite of having lead by his own choice, a quite tormented life marked
by what, we dare to say, were heroic deprivations. His facial lineaments, which in also define him as very virile, were reconstructed through the cast of his face made immediately after his death.