Posted on 08/15/2019 10:13:09 AM PDT by Anoop
A relic hunter dubbed ‘Indiana Bones’ has lifted the lid on a macabre collection of 400-year-old jewel-encrusted skeletons unearthed in churches across Europe.
Art historian Paul Koudounaris hunted down and photographed dozens of gruesome skeletons in some of the world’s most secretive religious establishments.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology-world.com ...
that’s some hefty grill work.
who says you can’t take it with you.
If the jewelry is real some of those skeletons must have a Million dollars worth on them!
Yeah, you can -- but not very far :)
“gruesome skeletons”
It’s not like we don’t have our own skeletons. Mine isn’t gruesome at all. I’m quite fond of it.
Catholic relic beliefs are often understandable to me especially if it is actually a bonafide relic
These are stretching that a lot adorning skeletons but I’m glad someone saved this stuff
Remarkable
Oh, God. This is going to give my wife ideas.
hehehe... you are right in that.
Dead rappers and their bling......
Thousands of skeletons were dug up from Roman catacombs in the 16th century and installed in towns around Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on the orders of the Vatican. They were sent to Catholic churches and religious houses to replace the relics destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. Mistaken for the remains of early Christian martyrs, the morbid relics, known as the Catacomb Saints, became shrines reminding of the spiritual treasures of the afterlife. They were also symbols of the Catholic Church’s newly found strength in previously Protestant areas.After they were found in the Roman catacombs the Vatican authorities would sign certificates identifying them as martyrs. Then they put the bones in boxes and sent them northwards. The skeletons would then be dressed and decorated in jewels, gold, and silver, mostly by nuns. Each one was painstakingly decorated in thousands of pounds worth of gold, silver, and gems by devoted followers before being displayed in church niches. Some took up to five years to decorate.
But by the 19th century, they had become morbid reminders of an embarrassing past and many were stripped of their honours and discarded.
Millions? If some of those jewels are real you’re probably talking billions !!!!
I need a fairly large tomb in order to pack all of my crap into the afterlife. It makes writing the will simpler as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.