The story of the saints in the catacombs of Northern Europe is a fascinating and somewhat macabre one. The discovery of jeweled skeletons in the catacombs beneath Rome in 1578 coincided with a crisis of faith in Northern Europe after the Reformation. The Protestant reformers rejected the veneration of relics, and many Catholic churches in the north were left without their saintly remains. The discovery of the Roman catacombs presented a solution, and the bones of unknown martyrs were sold to replace the lost relics.

The nuns who created the garments for the skeletons were highly skilled and accomplished. They adorned the bones with valuable and cut stones, covering them in gold and diamonds from the cranium to the metatarsal. The skeletons were given Latin names, and their decorations varied but were often elaborate. The skeletons were dressed in velvet and silk robes embroidered with gold thread, and even provided with silver plate armor in some cases. The resulting creations were unquestionably prestige symbols.

However, the Enlightenment brought a change in attitudes towards the ostentatious display of wealth and luxury. The expensive and elaborate decorations on the catacomb saints were viewed as a source of humiliation and were hidden away or destroyed. As a result, few of the original catacomb saints remain, with only around ten percent surviving to the present day.

It is intriguing to contemplate whose bones were adorned in such a lavish way. The identities of the martyrs whose remains were sold are unknown, and they may not have been actual saints. The fact that their bones were used as a replacement for the lost relics speaks to the importance of physical remains in religious practice and the lengths people will go to obtain them.

Overall, the story of the catacomb saints in Northern Europe is a curious one, reflecting the crisis of faith and the desire for decorative materialism in the practice of worship. While the fate of the catacomb saints is somewhat tragic, their creation and decoration provide a glimpse into the attitudes and beliefs of the time.