Is the art...?

  Along the Via Vittorio Veneto is the church of the Capuchin Friars (officially known as Santa Maria Della Concezione dei Cappuncini). Beside this rather plain looking (at least on the outside) church is the Capuchin Crypt museum. The Ossuary of the Capuchin Friars -called Capuchin because of the hood attachment to their habit, "capache" in Italian - contains several tiny chapels that run beneath the church. In 1631, the Capuchins left the friary of St. Bonaventure near the Trevi Fountain with 300 cartloads of the remains of deceased Friars and bodies of the poor (all told close to 4000 bodies). Because the ossuary area beneath the church was not really large enough to adequately hold the skeletal remains as well as room for the Friars, they sought permission to create..."a silent reminder of the swift passage of life on earth and of our own morality."

We must warn you that the following pictures may be disturbing to some. The Catholic Order of Capuchins insists that the odd decorative designs are not meant to be macabre. We leave it up t you...is this art?...or something else?

The Santa Maria Della Concezione dei Cappuncini church.

The Friars called this room the pelvic room as most of the contents of the room are pelvises.

To make the designs in the different rooms, the Friars nailed the skeletal remains to the walls and even to the ceilings.

So....is this art?....Otis it creepy? You decide.