Bautzen Cathedral Monastery
The cathedral monastery , in Sorbian Tachantstwo , is a horseshoe-shaped baroque assembly with an inner courtyard in Bautzen in the district of the same name in Saxony . Until 1980 it was the seat of the bishopric and residence of the Meißen diocese and is used as an archive, library and treasury of St. Petri Cathedral in Bautzen.
history
The four-wing complex with a mighty baroque portal is grouped around a trapezoidal courtyard. Little remains of the original structure from 1507. The present structure was essentially built in 1683 with the participation of Antonio Caldire. In the years 1753–1755, the south front with the main portal was designed by Christian Jehnel and the building was extended by a third floor by 1768. After war damage, it was rebuilt in 1950–1953. Restorations were carried out in the years 1955–1958 (inside), 1975–1977 (outside and inside), 1983–1985 (inside, including the establishment of the cathedral treasury), 1991–1993 (outside) and 2008 (inside).
architecture
The main facade, framed in red and white, is characterized by the large portal and the two flanking buildings with irregular hipped roofs. The main portal is designed with a round arch, the basket-arched secondary portal is symmetrically repeated to the west as a wall panel. In the blasted gable is the coat of arms of the cathedral monastery, which is flanked by angels with inscription cartouches, whose chronogram indicates the year of the decoration with figures as 1768. The chronogram in the keystone of the portal indicates that the building was completed in 1755. To top it off, there is a colored relief with a representation of the Trinity, towards the courtyard a representation of Maria Immaculate . Above the side pilasters there is a sculpture of Peter on the left and Paul on the right; the figurative decoration comes from the workshop of Jakob Delenka. The gable storey is backed by a wall lowered towards the center.
The side buildings are structured on both floors by Ionic colossal pilasters, with drilled window frames and other baroque decorative elements in between. In contrast, the courtyard facades are kept simple, also with drilled windows and various portals. On the north side, two older components have been preserved, which are provided with an almost round arched portal (which was supplemented in the period around 1680 by a baroque mask and a door hanger) with a plaque with the year 1507 above and a simple arched curtain window . A writing board with a chronogram framed with laurel tendrils is attached to the west wall. Above the west wing is a chimney with two round barrels and a pine cone as well as a protruding figure with a scroll. The outer facades of the wings are also plain, with a small bay window on the third floor of the north side.
Inside there is a late Gothic pointed arch portal with rod penetrations at the southwest corner. On the ground floor, the rooms are mostly closed off by simple groin vaults, and on the upper floors of the east wing by simple vaults. The episcopal house chapel, enclosed by cross vaults, is located in the northeast corner of the first floor. There is a wooden portable altar with a painting (probably made by Johann Hajek in 1782) "Joseph adores the Christ child sitting on a workbench" in a richly carved frame.
On the first floor of the west and north wing there are different, sometimes elaborate stucco ceilings with vegetal and ornamental motifs. The stairwell is in the southwest; On the two upper floors, coffered, colorfully painted wooden ceilings have been preserved, which show landscapes and hunting scenes on the first floor. A wooden spiral staircase with an animal mask at the base of the spindle leads from the first to the second floor. In the former chapter house remains of a wall painting with flowers and draperies from around 1760 have been preserved. The painting in the dining room dates from the end of the 19th century.
Furnishing
The furnishings include paintings depicting the deans of the Bautzen Cathedral Monastery, as well as historical furniture, including a magnificent chest from 1605, which is lavishly decorated with relief and inlaid jewelry with a portrait of the founder, Christoph Blöbel. Also to be mentioned are a crucifix on a Golgotha base and two candlesticks made of Meissen porcelain by Johann Joachim Kändler from the middle of the 18th century.
Cathedral treasury
The cathedral treasury has been housed on the first floor since 1985, the ceilings of which are decorated with linear stucco ornaments. Special mention should be made of the rich collection:
- a copper- gilded evangeliary lid with a crucifixion group and precious stones from the beginning of the 13th century, which was transformed into a portable altar by Peter Vasold in 1398, with a reliquary container on the back,
- an elaborately worked, partially gold-plated silver monstrance from Bautzen from 1520,
- Finely crafted reliquary statuettes of Saint Peter and Saint Bartholomew made of silver with partial gilding, from Bautzen, from around 1520, probably made by Paul Müllner from Nuremberg or from a Bautzner workshop,
- life-size figures of the holy bishops Willibrodus with a model of a chapel and Boniface in the bishop's robe with a large book, both made of limewood, partly polished and partly gilded from around 1730 by Johann Benjamin Thomae ,
- two animated angel figures made of limewood, polished white, from around 1725, also by Thomae from the so-called Dresden Altar,
- a life-size Saint Sebastian, tied to a tree trunk in a pathetic position, made of linden wood, from the beginning of the 18th century, from the Permoser school.
See also
literature
- Georg Dehio: Handbook of the German art monuments. Saxony I. District of Dresden. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-422-03043-3 , pp. 29-30.
- Cornelius Gurlitt : The cathedral pen. In: Descriptive representation of the older architectural and art monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. 33. Booklet: Bautzen (city) . CC Meinhold, Dresden 1909, pp. 193-203.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Information on the Bautzen Cathedral Monastery on sachsen-lausitz.de. Retrieved October 9, 2019 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 58.6 ″ N , 14 ° 25 ′ 24.2 ″ E