After the invention of daguerrotype, the memorializing habits of people have changed: they've chosen the cheap, higher quality photographs instead of expensive and not so lifelike paintings. Painting dead people was common for centuries, so it's no surprise that, in the Victorian Era, post-mortem photos also came into fashion. Here are some of the strangest ones.


Infants and children


Because of the high childhood and infant mortality rate, this was a significant way to memorializing lost family members. In some cases, this was the only photograph that depicted the entire family together.







Family portraits





Serious illnesses (left: Down syndrome)


Adults


King Ludwig II of Bavaria – the true Wagnerian hero.


The enbalmed body of John O'Connor, a recluse from Nebraska, two and a half years after his death (Feb. 1916):


With coffin


But how do these bodies stand?


(via: Taringa, desveladoyaburrido, pbase, klyker, cvltnation, mourningportraits, cpanet, ucoz and listverse)