Imperial Habsburg Crypt, Vienna, Austria Poster

"Imperial Habsburg Crypt, Vienna, Austria" by Catherine Sherman. These ornately decorated bronze sarcophagi are among the many burial tombs --ranging from very elaborate to very plain -- containing the remains of members of the Royal Habsburg family in the Habsburg Dynasty's Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. The intricate designs, including skull motifs and floral patterns, are in a rococo style with "memento mori" reminders. The most common motif in "memento mori" is a skull, often accompanied by bones. Often this alone is enough to evoke the trope, but other motifs include a coffin, hourglass, or wilting flowers to signify the impermanence of life. The crypt is also called the Capuchin Crypt (Kapuzinergruft), this crypt is a burial chamber beneath the Capuchin Church and monastery in Vienna. Since 1633, the Imperial Crypt serves as the principal place of entombment for the members of the House of Habsburg. The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. Our guide told us that there was only room for one more sarcophagus in the crypt. The most recent entombment was in 2023. One of the most famous entombed in the crypt-- at least to me -- was Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure (in her own right). Maria Theresa gave birth to sixteen children in nineteen years from 1737 to 1756, including Marie Antoinette, who would become Queen of France and would be known for losing her head during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. Maria Theresa was succeeded by her son, Joseph II, who was a supporter of the arts, particularly of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Joseph II is entombed in the Imperial Crypt. "‘Too many notes, dear Mozart, too many notes’ is what Emperor Joseph II supposedly said after the first performance of the Entfuhrung aus dem Serail in Vienna's old Burgtheater, according to the Cambridge University Press. Mozart's reply was: ‘Just as many as necessary, Your Majesty.’ This episode has served to condemn the poor Emperor as musically illiterate, but in fact the opposite was true. He was a decent cellist and every week in his Schönbrunn Palace he either listened to the latest chamber music or played it himself, all under the guidance of his court composers Gassmann, Salieri and Gluck."