Wender·Vista
Sedlec Ossuary
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileCzech Republic
in Kutná Hora, an hour east of Prague

Sedlec Ossuary

— — the quiet a small chapel keeps.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The chapel beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, where the bones of perhaps forty thousand people were arranged in 1870 by a local woodcarver named František Rint. A chandelier said to contain every bone in the human body. Pilgrims have been buried here since the thirteenth century, after an abbot returned with soil from Golgotha. People walk through without saying much.

from the studio
Sedlec Ossuary
— bring it home

Sedlec Ossuary, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Sedlec Ossuary

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The ossuary sits beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora about seventy kilometres east of Prague. The site dates to 1142, when Sedlec Abbey was founded by Cistercians. In 1278 an abbot returned from Jerusalem with earth from Golgotha and scattered it in the cemetery, making the ground sought-after across Central Europe. Plague and the Hussite wars filled it. In 1870 the woodcarver František Rint was hired to arrange the disinterred remains. The historic centre of Kutná Hora was inscribed by UNESCO in 1995.

— the silence

The chapel is small, only the lower level of a modest Gothic church, and the acoustic is held by stone. Visitors enter in small groups under timed-entry rules introduced in 2020 to slow the wear on the bones and the floor. Voices drop without anyone asking. The chandelier in the centre hangs from a vaulted ceiling about five metres above the floor and is said to hold at least one of every bone in the human body. The wall pyramids on the four corners contain the remainder. Cameras are no longer permitted inside.

— the visit

The ossuary is open year-round except 24 December, with entry by timed ticket purchased online in advance since the 2020 conservation rules. The site is reached by train from Prague's main station to Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží in about an hour, then a short walk. A combined ticket includes the Cathedral of Saint Barbara and the Church of the Assumption in Sedlec. Photography inside the chapel was prohibited from 2020 onward to protect the remains. The town of Kutná Hora itself is a silver-mining UNESCO listing worth a half-day on foot.

— where
Czech Republic · Kutná Hora, Central Bohemia
— elevation
254 m · 833 ft
— position
49.7989° N · 15.2885° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
0.3 km N
Church of the Assumption of Our Lady
Cistercian church
2 km SW
Cathedral of Saint Barbara
Gothic cathedral
2 km SW
Kutná Hora Historic Centre
UNESCO town
N
Sedlec Ossuary
Church of the Assumption of Our Lady
Cathedral of Saint Barbara
Kutná Hora Historic Centre
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Sedlec Ossuary — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Estimates range from forty to seventy thousand. The bones were disinterred from a cemetery filled during the fourteenth-century plague and the fifteenth-century Hussite wars, then arranged by František Rint in 1870.

The woodcarver František Rint of Česká Skalice, commissioned in 1870 by the Schwarzenberg family who then owned the property. Rint signed his name in bones on the wall near the entrance.

Abbot Henry of Sedlec returned from Jerusalem in 1278 with soil from Golgotha and scattered it across the cemetery. The gesture made burial here sought-after across Bohemia and the surrounding lands.

No. Photography was prohibited inside the chapel in 2020 as part of conservation measures that also introduced timed entry. The change responded to wear on the bones and the floor.

A direct train from Prague hlavní nádraží to Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží takes about an hour. The ossuary is a short walk from the station. Combined tickets cover Saint Barbara's Cathedral.

The historic centre of Kutná Hora — including Saint Barbara's Cathedral and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec — was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. The ossuary sits within the protected area.

— about the piece in your home

Sedlec is one of the clearest expressions of memento mori in Christian Europe. A Small or Medium in a quiet study reads as serious work, not novelty. A handwritten note from the studio carries well.

Dark Academia, Gothic Revival, and library or study rooms with leather and aged paper. The Voynich palette holds against oxblood, charcoal, and forest green walls. Less suited to bright minimalist rooms.

A single Large above a console. Above a full sofa, a four-tile or nine-tile Mural carries the room. The chapel's symmetry makes a grid arrangement work particularly well here.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish, which are scratch-resistant and handle steam. The Glossy finish is reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms. The colour lives in the surface regardless.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. Avoid abrasive pads or ammonia-based cleaners. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface beneath a thin clear finish, so day-to-day care is simple.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original work by Reid Wender, the curator of the atlas. Nothing is licensed from a stock library. One studio, one eye, one atlas.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

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