Affiche Habsburg Imperial Crypt, Vienna, Austria

"The Tomb of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I in the Habsburg Imperial Crypt, Vienna, Austria" by Catherine Sherman. The most impressive area in the Imperial Crypt of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna, Austria, is the domed chamber with rich architectural details dominated by a huge, elaborate sarcophagus for the Empress Maria Theresa (1717) and Emperor Francis I (1708-1765). The tomb features sculptures of the pair The same room houses many of her 16 children. One of those children is the Empress’s eldest son, who became Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790). With its nondescript copper design, his coffin contrasts dramatically with the adjacent sarcophagus of his parents. Joseph II was famous for his rationalist approach and distaste for ceremony. Maria Theresa 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 was Holy Roman Emperor from August 18,1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from November 29, 1780, until his death in 1790. He was the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the union of the Houses of Habsburg and Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine.Joseph was a proponent of enlightened absolutism; however, his commitment to secularizing, liberalizing and modernizing reforms resulted in significant opposition, which resulted in failure to fully implement his programs. One of Joseph II's so-called reforms was the economy coffin, hinged coffin or Josephinian coffin. The body was carried in the coffin to the gravesite where it would be dropped into the grave through folding doors on the base. The coffin would then be reused. Joseph also decreed that people be buried sewn into a sack without clothes so there wouldn't be a waste of clothing. The coffin proved to be one of the most controversial of all Joseph's reforms, receiving considerable resistance from the general public, the church and his own government officials. Joseph withdrew the order after six months, though his other burial reforms remained in place. Joseph was himself buried in a coffin after his 1790 death, though it was of plain copper construction rather than the elaborately detailed coffins of his predecessors. 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. The tombs range from very elaborate to very plain. Many of 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.