But why… why would they be decorated with so much luxury? Were they really buried like this or did something else happen? Well, they are not actually saints in the strict sense, although some of them may be named after saints. During the 15th century, Western Europe was shaken by the Beeldenstorm (the Fury of Statues), a term used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images. During these spasms of iconoclasm, Catholics and many forms of Christians were martyred. It is not clear whether this measure was ever effective, but in the 19th century they became an embodiment of pauperism.

As Catholic churches were systematically stripped of their icons, the Vatican came up with a rather strange solution. They ordered thousands of skeletons to be exhumed from the catacombs beneath Rome and installed in cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Few, if any, corpses belonged to people of any religious significance, but they were dressed as saints.

Skeletons became gruesome symbols of Catholicism in areas dominated by Protestants. It is not clear whether this measure was ever effective, but in the 19th century they became an embodiment of pauperism. Although it was considered sacrilegious and it was forbidden to sell the skeletons or their jewelry, some “enterprising” priests managed to make money by transporting them through the countryside to receive blessings.

In 1803, the secular magistrate of Rottenbuch, in Bavaria, auctioned the city’s two saints. 174 years later, in 1977, city residents raised funds to recover them, but for the most part, the catacomb saints were forgotten and discarded.

But it was time to return to the spotlight in 2013, when Paul Koudounaris revived interest in them with his new book, where he attempted to photograph and document each of the catacomb saints. It is not clear if he actually did it, but he certainly managed to bring them to light. He explains: “After they were found in the Roman catacombs, Vatican authorities signed certificates identifying them as martyrs rather than why they submitted the bones for recovery.”

‘They had to be managed by those who had made a sacred vow to the church; They were believed to be martyrs and could not allow just anyone to manage them. They were so important not because of their spiritual merit, which was quite doubtful, but because of their social importance. One of the reasons they were so important was not because of their spiritual merit, which was quite doubtful, but because of their social importance.