450-year-old Bejeweled Skeletons Look Spectacular after Death

Lurking beneath the Roman Catacomb Church for more than 400 years, these jeweled-encrusted skeletons are the ancient Christians martyrs which were dug from the network of underground tombs in Rome. The skeletal beauties were later distributed to main monasteries and churches throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Most of these awesomely bejeweled skeletons were not saints rather they were later certified as “Martyrs” from the Vatican after their discovery. The main reason behind the beautification of these dead bodies was to depict fruits of sacrifice in the hereafter.

These mind boggling images were shot by Paul Koudounaris, a history professor from California who has spent three years in search for the ancient ossuaries having macabre treasures. (via thisiscolossal)