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
KdS LU 5: 80–81, and 6: 354–355; KF 1: 285; Graf 1974: 164; Bitterli 2001; Oberli 2021: 189, 193.
exterior from south.
interior from entrance (west).
boarded ceiling.
An hourglass.
CERTA.
Wilted flowers.
MARCESSIMUS.
A child playing with bubbles.
DISPARIMUS.
Death striking a child in a cradle.
FERIMUR.
A clock.
INCERTA.
A broken glass on a table.
RUMPIMUR.
A felled tree.
SUCCIDIMUR.
A ship in a stormy sea.
IACTAMUR.
Weapons and armour.
MILITAMUS.
A ship in the stormy sea is about to hit a rock.
ALLIDIMUR.
A distaff with a spindle; a hand holding a knife.
ABSCINDIMUR.
A broken candle.
FRANGIMUR.
The sun sending its rays over snowy hills.
DISSOLVIMUR.
A falling column.
LABIMUR.
A hand holding a pilgrim’s staff.
PEREGRINAMUR.
Death with a bow and arrow striking a fleeing man.
FUGIMUS.
A stag driven to a hunting net by a dog.
CAPIMUR.
A pilgrim approaching an inn.
HOSPITAMUS.
A collapsed column next to ruins.
DESTRUIMUR.
A fountain in a garden.
DILABIMUR.
The dead rising from their graves; an angel with a trumpet.
IMMUTAMUR.
A torch extinguished by the wind.
CONSUMIMUR.
Death as a reaper next to a field of corn.
DEMETIMUR.
The wind blowing into a nearly bare tree.
RAPIMUR.
An oil lamp extinguished by the wind.
EXTINGUIMUR.
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.