Ettiswil (LU)

Charnel house (Chapel of St Mary)

Location, Object

Village of Ettiswil, Canton of Lucerne, Roman Catholic cemetery. Charnel house (Chapel of St Mary); built mid-17th c. (reconsecrated 1684 and 1742), decorated prob. 1684; restored 1961/1962 and 2012/2013.

Emblems (26)

Context
Boarded ceiling, covering nave and choir (c. 4 × 8 m), divided into 26 panels, each showing an emblem in tempera grisaille colours with a single-word Latin motto.

Authorship, Date
Possibly designed by Nikolaus Lang, parish priest in Ettiswil, 1664–1686; painted before reconsecration in 1684.

Significance
Emblematic memento mori, illustrating the frailty of man and the inevitability of death.

Source
No immediate source, but obviously inspired by contemporary emblem books (Picinelli, Drexel).

Literature
Kdm LU 5: 80–81, and 6: 354–355; KF 1: 285; Graf 1974: 164; Bitterli 2001; Oberli 2021: 189, 193.

Ettiswil, Charnel house,
exterior from south.

Ettiswil, Charnel house,
interior from entrance (west).

Ettiswil, Charnel house,
boarded ceiling.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 1**
An hourglass.
CERTA.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 2**
Wilted flowers.
MARCESSIMUS.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 3**
A child playing with bubbles.
DISPARIMUS.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 4**
Death striking a child in a cradle.
FERIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 5**
A clock.
INCERTA.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 6**
A broken glass on a table.
RUMPIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 7**
A felled tree.
SUCCIDIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 8**
A ship in a stormy sea.
IACTAMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 9**
Weapons and armour.
MILITAMUS.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 10**
A ship in the stormy sea is about to hit a rock.
ALLIDIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 11**
A distaff with a spindle; a hand holding a knife.
ABSCINDIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 12**
A broken candle.
FRANGIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 13**
The sun sending its rays over snowy hills.
DISSOLVIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 14**
A falling column.
LABIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 15**
A hand holding a pilgrim’s staff.
PEREGRINAMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 16**
Death with a bow and arrow striking a fleeing man.
FUGIMUS.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 17**
A stag driven to a hunting net by a dog.
CAPIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 18**
A pilgrim approaching an inn.
HOSPITAMUS.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 19**
A collapsed column next to ruins.
DESTRUIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 20**
A fountain in a garden.
DILABIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 21**
The dead rising from their graves; an angel with a trumpet.
IMMUTAMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 22**
A torch extinguished by the wind.
CONSUMIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 23**
Death as a reaper next to a field of corn.
DEMETIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 24**
The wind blowing into a nearly bare tree.
RAPIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 25**
An oil lamp extinguished by the wind.
EXTINGUIMUR.

**Ettiswil, Charnel house 26**
An open fire extinguished by the wind.
EVANESCIMUS.

Copyright note: Added 2012; revised 2026. All photos taken by the author, August 2011 and June 2026. Floor plan with diagram reproduced from Bitterli 2001: 144.