Coat of arms of Schwarzenberg family at Kostnice (Sedlec Ossuary) in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was employed by the Schwarzenberg family to put the bone heaps into order. Four enormous bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. An enormous chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault. Other works include piers and monstrances flanking the altar, a large Schwarzenberg coat-of-arms, and the signature of Rint, also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.

VIEW MORE / BUY PRINTS / LICENSE IMAGES of Sedlec Ossuary here >>

Photography  © Quintin Lake, 2011