While Milan is famous for its grand cathedral, the small church of San Bernardino alle Ossa houses a far more macabre spectacle. In 1210, the cemetery of the adjacent Brolo Hospital became so overcrowded that officials were forced to exhume the dead to make room for new burials. The bones were initially piled into a small chamber, but in 1679, a renovation transformed the ossuary into a masterpiece of the grotesque. The walls of the side chapel are completely covered in thousands of human skulls and femurs, meticulously arranged in intricate Rococo patterns that frame the doorways and pillars. Skulls are stacked into niches and used as friezes, creating a silent audience for those who come to pray. Above this grisly display, a 1695 fresco by Sebastiano Ricci depicts the Triumph of Souls, where angels carry the spirits of the dead toward heaven—a jarring contrast to the skeletal remains below. Interestingly, some of the skulls located above the altar are said to belong to criminals who were beheaded, their remains kept separate from the pious dead. The chapel was so impressive that King John V of Portugal ordered an exact replica built in Evora. It remains a stark memento mori, forcing every visitor to confront the physical reality of death in a city defined by fashion and life.