Sedlec Ossuary Project

For those of you who have followed our journey since the beginning, thank you so much for your support! For those who have recently joined us along the way, welcome to this adventure. Please allow us to introduce ourselves, as we continue with our passionate drive to show you the secrets and inspirations of this incredible place. Robert ( @Mechanical_Whispers_Art ) is a visionary artist, photographer, and motion graphics & 3D developer. Nadia ( @VodaZNY ) is a storyteller, photographer, designer, and architect. We are driven by our love of ancient artifacts, buildings, and landscapes, and all the stories they hold. We dreamt up this idea to preserve the history of the Sedlec Ossuary through our photography, artwork, writings, and beyond. This is a story of Sedlec Ossuary, in our words and through our eyes, past, present, and future. We are so very grateful for all of you who been enjoying & following it. And we hope it continues to grow as more people get inspired and share o...

Our story so far has brought you all way from the grand entrance of the ossuary, with its intricate chalices & garlands, down the staircase, and around the main room to admire the oldest relics of Sedlec, the bone pyramids compiled by the blind monk. Continuing on, to learn the history of the Schwarzenberg’s coat of arms made of bones, and then over to the altar with its terrifyingly beautiful monstrances. And finally ending up in the center of the room, to stand between the four marbled columns of skulls, and stone crypt in the floor. And now, above you, is Rint's most striking creation in the Bone Church - the magnificent chandelier. This impressive centerpiece is made from thousands of bones, and consists of at least one of every bone in the human body. The chandelier stands 2.6 meters tall and 2.25 meters in diameter, with eight arms arching gracefully from its main suspended column. But of course, in place of traditional ornate materials, bones are used, meticulously, to r...

In the center of the ossuary, four tapered columns surround a rectangular vault in the floor. Each of the columns has a beautifully painted faux marble finish on the wooden structure, in blue-grey tones, with contrasting faux white marble painted wainscoting inserts in the pedestal. In typical ossuary fashion, instead of the normal column base, you will find 3 wooden carved skulls with snakes slithering in and around them. Each skull is unique, and found on all 3 main sides of each triangular column. While the skull and snake are often seen as a symbol of man's mortality, snakes are also recognized as a symbol of humanity as a whole. But is there a significance to the fact that these columns are three-sided? Since many of the remains belonged to plague victims, it is possible that Santini's vision was a tribute to “plague columns”, that are found all over Europe. These columns represent people's solace at the end of the plague epidemic, and the 3 sides would symbolize the t...

One of the most monumental and iconic decorations created by Rint in the ossuary, is the House of Schwarzenberg coat of arms made entirely out of human bones. We do not know if its creation was ordered by Orlik of Schwarzenberg, or if Rint created it on his own to express his gratitude to his employer. Regardless, it is an impressively detailed creation, and one of the centerpieces of the ossuary. It can currently be found hanging in the lower area of the ossuary, in front of one of the pyramid of bones in the left transept. But what few people know, is that its original placement was at the entranceway above the staircase. Parts of Rint's design can still be seen above the stairs, in the form of bones and skulls hanging like drapes, which used to flank the sides of the coat of arms, and represented the princely cloak. Those who are familiar with historic coats of arms will no doubt recognize some of the symbols that Rint artistically reinterpreted out of bones. Perhaps the first...

Perhaps some of the most interesting pieces displayed at the ossuary are two monstrances that flank the altar and the statue of a crucified Jesus at the back of the room. The word "Monstrance" originated from the Latin “monstrare”, meaning “to show.” Monstrances are historically defined as liturgical vessels or chalices that display the Host, the Eucharist, or communion wafer during the sacrament, and typically have an elaborate design including a defined round center, with details representing a sunburst extending outward from it. As with everything inside the Sedlec Ossuary, these are not your usual monstrances. They are built entirely out of bones, in an extremely ornate design having a skull in the middle, surrounded with femurs, sacrum, vertebrae, and other bones that are arranged in beautiful symmetry. Note how the smaller sized bones alternate on each side of the femurs to make the traditional monstrance sunburst pattern. The ornate design continues down to the base,...

"I call architecture frozen music." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The bone decorations at Sedlec are no doubt the main focus of everyone's attention. But there is also a layer of Gothic Baroque design that provides a backdrop for the unusual decor. This design is attributed to architect and builder Jan Blažej Santini Aichel, whose influence and work is well-known all around Czechia. At the time he started working on the Church of All Saints restoration, he was only 25 years old. His younger brother, František Jakub, was also involved doing stonework construction. The most prominent change in the structure of the church, was a shield on the top of the exterior facade, between the two towers, to secure the building's stability. But he also carried his style all the way down into the underground Kostnice, in its details and decor, installing massive crowns to hang over the existing piles of bones, as well as corner prayer booths & candleholders. While time has no...

Past, Present, and Future... How interestingly they intertwine sometimes. We've talked about the Past - the creators, the artists, the history, and the dead. And now... “Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs; Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes, Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.” - William Shakespeare Understanding the symbols on old gravestones gives greater insight into the past, be it a drawing, word, or symbolical representation. It’s a story, a message, and emotions carved in stone. We would like to share just a small portion of the fascinating, but simple, symbols of birth and death to help in translation. * born † died (*) born out of wedlock †* stillborn *† died on birthday ≈ baptized o engaged ⚭ married ⚮ divorced ⚯ unmarried ⚔ killed in action ⚰ buried ⚱ cremated You will find many old gravestones around the Ossuary, and a few plaques inside to read. There will be even more history explained in printed pamphle...