[NYer]

Why, then, would anyone prefer to rot away slowly, instead of being turned into ashes quickly and cleanly?

Perhaps ...

Saint Bernadette Soubirous

or the 250+ other saints whose bodies are incorrupt.

[kosta50]

or the 250+ other saints whose bodies are incorrupt

There are incorrupt bodies of Indian gurus as well (their nails haven't been painted however, nor have their faces been so made up and muscles tightened they don't even look dead). But, be it as it may, then there is little hope for the rest of us.

[kosta50]

Perhaps ...Saint Bernadette Soubirous or the 250+ other saints whose bodies are incorrupt.

This is what Wikpedia has to say about picture-perfect Bernadette

The Church exhumed the corpse a second time on April 3, 1919. A doctor who examined the body noted, "The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts. ... The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body." In 1925, the church exhumed the body for a third time. They took relics, which were sent to Rome. A precise imprint of the face was molded so that the firm of Pierre Imans in Paris could make a wax mask based on the imprints and on some genuine photos....Imprints of the hands were also taken for the presentation of the body and the making of wax casts. The remains were then placed in a gold and crystal reliquary in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the mother house in Nevers."

I think your argument with the picture is rather misleading, don't you think?