Capuchin Crypt

"What you are, we used to be.

 What we are, you will become."

Underneath Santa Maria della Concezione lies an unusual space. While the church was commissioned in 1626 by Pope Urban VII, it was his brother, Antoni Barberini, who constructed the Capuchin Crypt. In the Capuchin Crypt rests the bones of the Capuchin Friars. It contains the remains of nearly 3,700 bodies. Barberini had these remains exhumed to build the art pieces you see today. It took nearly 300 cart loads to remove the bones from their original resting place, Friary Via die Lucchesi. 

There are six chapels in the crypt: Crypt of the Resurrection, Crypt of Skulls, Crypt of the Pelvises, Crypt of the Leg and Thigh Bones, Crypt of the Three Skeletons, and The Mass Chapel.

Crypt of Skulls

Crypt of Leg and Thigh Bones

Crypt of the Resurrection

Crypt of the Pelvises

As you can see, the Capuchins arranged the remains of their fellow monks to display resurrection of the body and everlasting life. 

Crypt of the Three Skeletons

In the Crypt of the Three Skeletons, the skeleton on the ceiling in the center depicts life and death. This body portrays life by coming to birth and death by gripping a scythe with the right hand. With the left hand, the body is holding on to scales; the scales depict good and evil through God's judgment of man.

• http://www.cappucciniviaveneto.it
• http://www.romeing.it/museum-and-crypt-of-the-capuchin-friars-rome/