Bohemian Bones

Sunday was our mandatory day trip to Kutna Hora, a town about an hour's drive from Praha, known for its importance and affluence while its silver mines were prosperous. We visited St. Barbara's Church. It had some still in-tact Gothic frescoes, which was cool to see. We covered the few sights the town offered on a cold day. The best was the Sedlec Ossuary.

About 40,000 people were buried in the spot where church construction was supposed to take place. Naturally, they dug up all the skeletons. This was in the early 1500s and the bones were stored in the chapel where they are found today. But it was not until 1870 that a single man was put to the task to arrange the remains.

The result? Vaulted ceilings laced with chains of dangling bones, a chandelier featuring every bone of the human body, a coat of arms constructed of -- guess what? -- bones. Pyramids of bones, stacks of skulls. (I wish there were synonym of "bone" I could employ here.) Impressive, creepy, meant to remind us, as my professor told us, what we are now, they once were, and what they are now, we shall become. Morbidity entwined in the artistry. Or maybe the other way around.