Tomb of Queen Anna Jagiellonica
The tomb of Queen Anna Jagiellonica is an important work of art of Mannerist sculpture in Poland, created by the Florentine architect and sculptor Santi Gucci around 1580 for Anna Jagiellonica (born October 18, 1523 in Cracow; † September 9, 1596 in Warsaw) after she - contrary to expectations - ruled formally from 1575/76 to 1596 as the heir to the Jagiellonian dynasty and as the elected " King of Poland " and " Grand Duke of Lithuania ". The funerary monument is located in the Sigismund Chapel in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow .
The long way to the tomb
Anna Jagiellonica was - if the illegitimate children are also taken into account - the ninth child of her father King Sigismund I the Old of Poland († 1548) and the fourth child from his second marriage to Bona Sforza († 1557), a daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza , who was nominally Duke of Milan from 1478 to 1495 . This relationship with Italy was to prove to be of great use in this context, because the openness of the Polish court to Italian art not only brought the art of the Renaissance and Mannerism to Poland, but also the artists, including the Sigismund Chapel and later should also create the tomb of Anna Jagiellonica.
But at first Anna was very far from such considerations, because she not only had an older brother, but also four legitimate older sisters, which is why there was no prospect of succession in the rule over Poland and Lithuania, and therefore no chance to ever receive a grand tomb in the Sigismund Chapel in Krakow Cathedral, which was reserved for the rulers of Poland from their families. It was only thanks to an astonishing series of events that she finally came to the throne of Poland and Lithuania and thus gained the opportunity to be present as an image in the Sigismund Chapel through the erection of an important grave monument and thus to survive the centuries.
Death played a not insignificant role in this development. Of her married siblings, who were therefore eligible for the succession to the throne, her half-sister Anna had died in 1520, her eldest sister Isabella Jagiellonica , Queen of Hungary from 1539 to 1540, died in 1559. Her brother Sigismund II August succeeded his father as sole ruler in 1548 and died in 1572 as the last male representative of his house.
Since Poland was an elective monarchy, a foreigner was elected because the French Prince Heinrich von Valois (1551–1589), a younger son of King Heinrich II of France and Catherine of Medici , was named Heinrich I in 1573 " Henryk Walezy ”was elected King of Poland-Lithuania. His rule was to be legitimized by his marriage to Anna, the heir to the Jagiellonians. However, he refused to marry Princess Anna, who was 28 years his senior, probably also because of the fact that she was 50 years old and had no offspring. Anna's "bridegroom" neglected not only her, but also the government and disappeared discreetly to France in June 1574 to be named Henry III. to ascend the French throne.
Since Anna's eldest legitimate half-sister Hedwig Jagiellonica, Electress of Brandenburg and her older sister Sophia Jagiellonica , Duchess of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel died in 1575 , Anna unexpectedly became a "senior citizen" of the Jagiellonian family and thus a possible candidate for the throne herself.
Since there was no right of inheritance in the Polish monarchy , the nobility voted for a king in December 1575, but this degenerated into a double election. A part of the nobility elected the Archduke of Austria - and since 1564 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - Maximilian II on December 12, 1575, while another group of nobility elected Anna Jagiellonka and the husband chosen for her by the nobility three days later, on December 15 , Stephan Báthory (1533–1586), Prince of Transylvania , were elected to - common - rulers.
The chances of Anna Jagiellonika to rule were still rather poor, since the husband intended for her was only a prince and, unfortunately, also a vassal of the "hereditary enemy" - the Ottoman Sultan - while the Austrian option was for reasons of imperial prestige and because of the the given power structure seemed considerably more attractive. But things turned out differently: while Emperor Maximilian II took his time with his decision, Stephan Báthory immediately set out to get the united crowns of the Piasts and the Jagiellonians . He hurried to Krakow, married Anna, who was 10 years his senior, and was crowned King of the United Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania together with her on May 1, 1576. As a result, Anna became ruler at the age of 53 and ruled the Polish-Lithuanian empire together with her husband with the title "King" (albeit largely only nominally).
Santi Gucci
Santi Gucci came to Poland around 1550 - perhaps on the initiative of Queen Bona Sforza - built a building yard in Pińczów and developed into one of the most successful and fruitful architects of his time by building numerous castles and churches for Polish aristocrats. He made a significant contribution to the spread of Renaissance architecture and Mannerism in Poland. Under Anna's brother, King Sigismund II August, he was therefore promoted to court artist and raised to the nobility. After the death of her brother, Anna had therefore commissioned Santi Gucci with the execution of his funerary monument, which was built in the years 1574/1575 in the Sigismund Chapel built by Bartolomeo Berecci in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow. It was therefore natural for her to entrust him with the creation of her grave monument.
Tomb of Anna Jagiellonica
It is unknown when Anna Jagiellonica first felt the desire to be buried herself in the magnificent chapel, which her father King Sigismund I had built in the Wawel Cathedral as a burial place for himself and his royal descendants and which is a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance north of the Alps applies.
For a long time this was a mere thought with no prospect of realization, since it was so far from the throne. This wish became more realistic with the childless death of her brother King Sigismund II. Augustus, for whom she had donated the tomb in the Sigismund Chapel in 1574, but only through her election as “King” this wish became a program. She had already appointed the Italian court architect and sculptor Santi Gucci to erect the grave monument for her brother, whom she therefore entrusted with the construction of her own tomb.
It is remarkable that when her grave monument was designed, no space was provided for her - also crowned - husband. He is mentioned in her funerary inscription, but found his final resting place a long way from her in the underground crypt of the church. This suggests that she saw herself alone as the true ruler of the Jagiellonian Empire.
When planning the monument, however, the question of space arose, since in the Sigismund Chapel, which was designed by Bartolommeo Berrecci (1480–1537) as a square total work of art, all four sides were already allocated: one for the altar, one for her father's tomb and her brother's, one for the throne bench and the fourth for the entrance gate.
Master Santi Gucci had found an ingenious solution for her brother's grave by inserting his tomb into the plinth of the grave monument of King Sigismund I in the form of an arcade niche covered by a basket arch in which the fully plastic figure of the king lies, creating a two-story tomb for father and son was created. The installation of another sarcophagus in this grave monument was not possible due to lack of space. This made the representative installation of another grave monument for Queen Anna problematic. In the end it was decided that this should be set up directly opposite the entrance gate in front of the throne bench built by Berrecci.
The next problem was the lack of visibility of a traditional depiction of the deceased on the tumba lid, as this is only correctly visible from a "bird's eye view". But Master Gucci also found a solution for this problem. In order not to put her in a worse position than her father and brother in terms of visibility, he made an unusual trick: Instead of depicting the figure of the queen on top of the lid of a tumba, he created a grave slab, which he did not place horizontally, but in an almost vertical direction set up in front of the throne bench. This means that the grave slab with the depiction of Queen Anna lying on it is already in full view of the beholder from the entrance, who is looking "from above" at the reclining figure, which seems to be floating.
The tomb was made of red Hungarian marble and consists of an almost vertical grave slab on which the reclining figure of the queen is depicted in half-relief. The grave slab is surrounded by a frame, which has a base with a grave inscription, as well as side parts with coats of arms (including Poland, Lithuania and Sforza ) and a final cornice. The reclining figure of the Queen, depicted as realistic and portrayed, bears the royal insignia - crown, scepter and orb - while she also carries a prayer book in her right hand. The older tradition of resting the queen's feet on a dog as a symbol of loyalty has been dispensed with here. The depiction clearly shows mannerist traits, as are characteristic of Santi Gucci, who also used these stylistic elements when designing the tomb of her brother Sigismund II August. The grave monument for Queen Anna was completed in 1583.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jaroslaw Krawczyk: “On Poland and Poles”, page 85; Bellona; Warszawa, 2004, ISBN 978-83-11-13546-8
- ↑ Teresa Czerniewicz-Umer (main author): “Vis-à-Vis Krakau”; Dorling Kindersley Verlag; London, 2015/16 edition, ISBN 978-3-7342-0083-0
literature
- Andrzej Fschinger: “Funerary monuments of the kings from the Jagiellonian dynasty in the cathedral on the Wawel in Cracow”, pages 137/138, in: “Poland in the Age of the Jagiellonians 1386 - 1572” Catalog of the exhibition at the Schallaburg 1986
- Michał Rożek: “Groby królewskie na Wawelu” wyd.II Krakow 2008
- Teresa Czerniewicz-Umer (main author): “Vis-à-Vis Krakau”; Dorling Kindersley Verlag; London, 2015/16 edition, ISBN 978-3-7342-0083-0
- Jaroslaw Krawczyk: “On Poland and Poles”; Bellona; Warsaw, 2004, ISBN 978-83-11-13546-8