10 Luxurious Skeletons Unearthed From Catacombs In Rome

Decorated by the skilled lay brother Adalbart Eder, St. Valentinus in Waldsassen wears a biretta and an elaborate, elegantly jewelled version of a deacon’s cassock to emphasize his ecclesiastical status.

Skeletal remains of wealthy people buried in Roman catacombs.

Records concerning the decoration of St. Valerius in Weyarn, Germany, are incomplete, but similarities in technique with the relic of Albertus in Burgrain, Germany, suggest that there may be a connection between the two.

St. Felix, pictured here, arrived in Sursee, Switzerland, in 1761, and was decorated to match St. Irenaus, brought over a century before by Johann Rudolf Pfyffer of the papal Swiss Guard.

This St. Benedictus was received by the church of St Michael in Munich, Germany, even though it was not a Benedictine foundation but a court for Clemens August I of Bavaria.

“Heavenly Bodies,” published by Thames & Hudson, reveals ancient jewel-encrusted skeletons found and photographed across Europe by historian Paul Koudounaris. In this photo, St. Albertus’ remains from the Roman Catacombs in 1723, are shown.

St. Friedrich at the Benedictine abbey in Melk, Austria, is presented in a typical reclining pose and holds laurel branch as a sign of victory.

St. Munditia, in the church of St. Peter in Munich, Germany, grasps a flask supposedly containing dehydrated blood as evidence of her martyrdom. When faith in the catacomb saints waned, Munditia was boarded up and spent several decades hidden from view.