Skellies
For many of the Christian faith the symbol of the skull or skeleton embodies not the auspices of the devil, but an elevation of the fleeting immediacy of life. Everyone is familiar with the catacombs of Paris, but the practice of arranging and displaying these remnants of the dead in elaborate, often artful geometry, can be seen around the world.
Once the stone mines of Paris, these underground compartments and tunnels became a labyrinthine ossuary for the exhumed remains of overburdened cemeteries, a project that began in 1786, and which has been open as a museum to the public since 1867.
Initially intended as a simple bone repository, 1810 heralded the catacombs transformation into the mausoleum style sepulcher it is today.
A modest example of a geometrically decorative ossuary is found in Lima, Peru. In the basement of the Monastery Of San Francisco, among the usual stacks of bones, there is a well in which the remains are rearranged in a series of concentric circles. Lit from within the affect is strange and beautiful:
As in Paris, the Lima catacombs consisted mainly of slaves, servants, and others without money for a proper burial. Their arrangement seems to offer them a sort of grace they would never have otherwise received.
The Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones in Évora, Portugal, was made a century earlier and is extremely elaborate.
"Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos (We bones, lying here bare, are awaiting yours)"
Uniquely, the Chapel Of Bones is above ground, allowing for three small windows to help light the space.
Some of the most amazing features of this site are the vaulted ceilings and archways.
Mummies of monks were used to act as statues throughout the chapel:
This area seems sinister at first, but there's something endearing about it. If the belief is that Jesus died for everyone’s sins, then it's almost a visual tally of the souls he helped get into heaven. With his arms outstretched it's oddly as though he's posing with his posse.
Possibly the most startling and ornate of these sites is located in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. Because the Abbott of the monastery sprinkled dirt he'd brought back from Golgotha onto their cemetery, it quickly became inundated with burials, especially during the time of the Bubonic Plague. The 16th century brought the need for an ossuary, and by the late 19th century, the need for a little reorganizing.
What's different about this ossuary is that the decor is taken to an unusual extreme. The bones extend beyond the walls and ceiling, and into room fixtures like chandeliers, plaques, banners, and the occasional chalice.
I'll end with a poem written by Fr. António da Ascenção of the Church of St. Francis in reference to the Chapel Of Bones:
(Portuguese)
Aonde vais, caminhante, accelerado?Pára...não prosigas mais avante;Negocio, não tens mais importante,
Do que este, á tua vista apresentado.Recorda quantos desta vida tem passado,Reflecte em que terás fim similhante,
Que para meditar causa he bastante
Terem todos mais nisto parado.Pondera, que influido d'essa sorte,Entre negociações do mundotantas,Tão pouco consideras na morte;Porem, se os olhos aqui levantas,Pára...porque em negocio deste porte,Quanto mais tu parares, mais adiantas.por Padre António da Ascenção
(English)
Where are you going in such a hurry traveler?
Stop … do not proceed;
You have no greater concern,
Than this one: that on which you focus your sight. Recall how many have passed from this world,
Reflect on your similar end,
There is good reason to reflect
If only all did the same.Ponder, you so influenced by fate,
Among all the many concerns of the world,
So little do you reflect on death;If by chance you glance at this place,
Stop … for the sake of your journey,
The more you pause, the further on your journey you will be.(translation by Rev. Carlos A. Martins, CC)