Down in the crypt of the Capuchin church in Vienna is an astonishing collection of final resting places, those of emperors, empresses, and members of the Habsburg imperial family. It is there for you to visit. Many complicated rituals surrounded the entombment of the Habsburgs over the centuries. Amid the rich symbolic language on evidence in the crypt are sculptures like this one showing a skeletal figure wearing the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, so long entrusted to the Habsburg family.

The message could not be clearer to all who viewed it: even emperors are finally mortal, and none will be spared the fate that awaits all humans. Amid pomp, at least the outward show of humility is evident. Sic transit gloria mundi.

(Photograph by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius)