Bohemian Gothic ~ Bone Chapel

Ambrosia

baba-prague said:
Hi Ambrosia,

Yes, I'll try to post some Bone Chapel pictures. We went there on a freezing autumn day and it was very atmospheric - almost no-one else around.

Thankyou Karen, that would be most interesting. I have only seen the pics I posted in the first post so would be really intrigued to see some of yours.

No hurry.
 

Thirteen

The postcard pics are AWESOME! I can see why they inspired a deck. Certain elements are so curious and fascinating. Like the way the little girls seem lost in their clothing. This being a photograph, which folk dressed up for, I wonder if the best their mother could find to clothe them in were these larger dresses, or if the dresses are deliberately oversized to last them as they grow?

And the elaborate cushioning/swaddling for the baby is fascinating both in card and original photo. Is this a firstborn that the mother is making much of, or is that frilly cushion something passed down from mother to daughter? An old Christening gown of sorts?

Wonderful images.
 

baba-prague

Thirteen said:
The postcard pics are AWESOME! I can see why they inspired a deck. Certain elements are so curious and fascinating. Like the way the little girls seem lost in their clothing. This being a photograph, which folk dressed up for, I wonder if the best their mother could find to clothe them in were these larger dresses, or if the dresses are deliberately oversized to last them as they grow?

And the elaborate cushioning/swaddling for the baby is fascinating both in card and original photo. Is this a firstborn that the mother is making much of, or is that frilly cushion something passed down from mother to daughter? An old Christening gown of sorts?

Wonderful images.

Yes, the clothing is fascinating isn't it? It all looks so stiff and you get the impression there are layers and layers of petticoats and things underneath it. I suppose that formal clothes for children were made to "grow into" - I well remember my grandmother using that dreaded phrase!

The way that the baby is dressed is astonishing. I assume that it was the days when in some places it was still considered good to wrap the baby tightly ("swaddling clothes" in medieval terms). Poor little thing looks miserable!
 

baba-prague

Thirteen said:
The postcard pics are AWESOME!

Oh, just for the sake of accuracy I should say that most of the ones I posted aren't postcards - sorry, I should have been more clear. They are mainly cabinet photographs (the sort of formal, expensive photograph that you went to a studio for - I suppose all middle-class families did this at least once) and also one or two from our collections of old magazines - we collect "Zlata Praha" (Golden Prague) for instance, which was a monthly arts and gossip type magazine - it sometimes included some splendid photographs, particularly of notable people like politicians and actors.

I'll fish out some of the postcards and post those too - they tend to be German and very, very romantic in theme - lots of couples or women looking dreamily into the middle-distance. Great fun to work with. The World was one that we used almost "as is" from a postcard, as it was just such a lovely picture.
 

nicki

Thanks Ambrosia for this post, I spent a few hours in Edinburgh Crypts and that was scary enough can't imagine what the bone chapel must be like, awesome.
 

Ambrosia

You are most welcome nicky. Its a pleasure to share.
Sorry my reply is a month late, ive been on holiday.
 

MysticalMoose

Wow! I have been knocked over & filled with awe at the pics of the Bone Chapel, how beautiful yet chilling. I would so love to visit & see it for myself.

MM
 

Ambrosia

MysticalMoose said:
Wow! I have been knocked over & filled with awe at the pics of the Bone Chapel, how beautiful yet chilling. I would so love to visit & see it for myself.

MM

:D Yes it certainly is awe inspiring isnt it? Glad you enjoyed the pics. The panoramic view is just awesome!
 

Master_Margarita

I just stumbled on this article with a number of photos of the Bone Chapel I'd not seen before, although the tone of the article is oddly negative.

:heart: M_M~
 

RichardDirt

I didn't notice images of the Sedlec Ossuary when I first looked at the scans of the BG online, but when I got it and saw them, I fell in love with the deck.

I have been to Prague and while we were there we also visited the Sedlec Ossuary. I can't describe it, but it smelled odd, and was both creepy and awe inspiring at the same time. It's in a tiny little town outside of Prague that was interesting to get to (as my friend and I don't speak Czech) but I'm so glad we made the effort. I highly recommend for anyone visiting Prague to go check out the Sedlec Ossuary.

I also like how the Prague deck means more to me now that I've been there.