Photographing the Morbid or An Introduction to Skeleton Photography
BY LYNN HILDITCH LRPS
The Sedlec Ossuary, or All Saints Cemetery Church, also known as the “Bone Church”, is a strange and disturbing place and not recommended for the faint-hearted. Situated about 30 miles south east of the Czech capital of Prague in the outskirts of the medieval town of Kutná Hora, Sedlec thrives on the tourism that the ossuary and its history bring. I had no idea what an ossuary was and had never heard of Sedlec or Kutná Hora before booking the trip. I’d only heard about the place via the holiday brochure which described the ossuary as “a medieval church decorated with human bones”. I didn’t have a clue what to expect but was immediately intrigued.
The Gothic All Saints Cemetery Church was built around the beginning of the 15th Century on the site of a small cemetery. The founding of the cemetery can be traced back to Sedlec's abbot Jindrich (Henry) in the year 1278, who was sent to deliver a message by King Premysl Otakar II of Bohemia to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem the abbot brought a handful of dirt from the hill of Calvary (hill of skulls) in Golgotha back to Bohemia and cast it on the ground of the cemetery. From then on the cemetery became a desirable burial site known across Central Europe as “Holy Earth”.
The chapel of the church was destined for the deposition of the remains of approximately 40,000 people many of whom had died either from the Plague of 1318, the Hussite wars of 1421 or the battle of Malešov that took place around Kutná Hora in 1424. Legend has it that the task of exhuming the skeletons from the site and piling them in the chapel was undertaken by half-blind Cistercian monks around 1511. The church as it stands today has changed quite considerably due to Baroque-style remodifications in the early 18th century (1703-1710) by the Czech architect Jan Santini-Aichel.
As you walk into the chapel you are immediately confronted by thousands of bones that have become nothing short of art. They really are quite overwhelming. The current arrangement of bones, which adorn the entire interior of the church, started in 1870 by the Czech wood-carver, František Rint (his signature is written in bones on a wall inside the chapel – see photograph). Rint was employed by the local aristocratic Schwarzenberg family who had purchased the property following the reforms of Josef I. Before they could be used, the bones had to be individually disinfected which must have been a long arduous task. The ossuary (meaning burial place for human remains) contains the medieval skeletons of about 40,000 people many of which are piled up in huge alcoves around the chapel. Perhaps the most interesting, if not bizarre, creation is the dominant chandelier in the centre of the nave that is said to contain all the bones of the human body. Two bone monstrances stand beside the main altar, a bone challis decorates the entrance, and a coat-of arms (literally!) of the Schwarzenberg family can be found on a left-hand wall of the chapel. There are also four tall pyramids of bones in the centre of the chapel beneath the chandelier adorned by trumpet-blowing cherubs. (Apparently, there used to be a "No Dogs Allowed" sign outside the church, but they removed it).
According to the guidebooks, the work was created to remind us of the transience of human life and the undeniable fact of human death. I don’t know about that but you certainly come out the place feeling glad to be alive!
In 1970, the centenary of Rint's contributions, the Surrealist Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer was commissioned to document the ossuary. The result was a 10 minute long frantic-cut nightmare of skeletal images overdubbed with an actual tour-guide's neutral voice narration. Švankmajer later re-edited the film, replacing the narration with a brief spoken introduction and a jazz arrangement by Zden?k Liška of the poem “Comment Dessiner le portrait d'un Oiseau” (“How to Draw the Portrait of a Bird”) by Jacques Prévert. A surreal tribute to a surreal place.
The Sedlec Ossuary is definitely worth a visit if you are taking a trip to Prague. Buses and trains depart regularly from both Prague's Florenc bus station and from Hlavní Nádrazi train station. The journey takes approximately 60-90 minutes. We travelled in April with WA Shearings who include a full-day excursion to Kutná Hora and Sedlec as part of their Budapest, Prague and Vienna tour. Entrance to the ossuary is 30 Czech Koruna (approximately 70p). A photographic licence can be purchased at the door for 35 Czech Koruna (approximately 85p).
Please send any comments to Lynn |
