Sigismund Chapel (Krakow)
| Sigismund Chapel | |
|---|---|
 View from the Berrecci Gate |
|
| Construction year: | 1517 |
| Inauguration: | 1531 |
| Style elements : | Renaissance |
| Client: | Catholic Church |
| Location: | 50 ° 3 '16.3 " N , 19 ° 56' 7.9" E |
| Address: |
Wawel Krakow Poland |
| Purpose: | Roman Catholic burial church |
| Diocese : | Krakow |
.jpg)
The Sigismund Chapel , also known as the “King's Chapel” or “ Jagiellonian Chapel”, was built between 1519 and 1531 and is one of the nineteen chapels that surround the Kraków Cathedral .
In 1867, the German art historian August Essenwein called it “a Renaissance pearl on this side of the Alps”. It is an example of Florentine Renaissance architecture outside of Italy.
history
After the death of Barbara Zápolya , the first wife of King Sigismund the Elder , the widowed king decided to build a mausoleum for his dynasty.
The king commissioned the Florentine architect Bartolomeo Berrecci (1480–1537), who in 1517 presented the first drafts of the chapel to him.
Construction began in 1519 after the Gothic Casimir Chapel was demolished . The chapel was built in the raw state until 1524, the dome was added in 1526, and construction work ended in 1531. The chapel was consecrated in 1533.
Other Italian artists helped Berecci with the construction: Antonio da Fiesole, Niccolo Castiglione, Filippo da Fiesole, Bernardino Zanobi de Gianotis, Giovanni Soli, Giovanni Cini da Siena and Giovanni Maria Padovano.
architecture
The chapel was built on a square plan. The elliptical dome rests on an octagonal drum with round windows and is covered with fish scales made of gilded copper sheet. The outer walls are divided with pilasters and cornices. The only entrance is a barred arch from the inside of the cathedral.
The project is an independent work by Berrecci and has no analogues in Italy. There is only a distant resemblance to a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci .
Furnishing
Opposite the entrance arch in front of the Berrecci throne bench is the grave monument of Queen Anna Jagiellonica , on the right the splendid tombs of the kings Sigismund I the Elder and Sigismund II August . On the left opposite the tombs is the silver altar, which was created between 1531 and 1538 in Nuremberg by Melchior Baier based on a design by Peter Flötner. Statues of saints are placed in wall niches.
The walls are adorned with grotesque ornaments with mythological motifs and panoplies .
The dome is divided with cassettes. There are stone rosettes inside the cassettes. The lantern ceiling is surrounded by the inscription BARTHOLOMEO FLORENTINO OPIFICE .
The tomb of King Sigismund I the Elder was designed by Berrecci, that of Sigismund II August is the work of Santi Gucci.
The Berrecci throne bench was closed at the front with a marble tombstone of Queen Anna Jagiellonica by Santi Gucci.
The winged altar (1531–1538) was built by a group of Nuremberg artists based on a design by Hans Dürer . The bas-reliefs on the inside were carved into silver sheet by Melchior Baier according to a design by Peter Flötner . The outside of the altar wing is filled with Passion paintings by Georg Pencz .
The grille at the entrance with the coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania and the Sforza family (1530–1532) comes from the workshop of Hans Vischer .
crypt
In the crypt below the chapel is the sarcophagus of King Sigismund I the Old . The mortal remains of Anna Jagiellonica and Sigismund II August , however, are in the crypt under the southern ambulatory .
Illustrations
Sigismund tombs
Anna's tomb
dome
Jagiellonian coat of arms
Pencz Altar (closed)
Pencz altar (open)
.jpg)
literature
- Stanisław Mossakowski: King Sigismund Chapel at the Cracow Cathedral (1515-1533) . Krakow 2012.
- Michał Rożek, Krakowska katedra na Wawelu . Wydawnictwo św. Stanisława BM Archidiecezji Krakowskiej. Kraków 1989
Individual evidence
- ↑ TeresaCzerniewicz-Umer (main author): "Vis-à-Vis Krakau"; Page 70; Dorling Kindersley Verlag; London, 2015/16 edition, ISBN 978-3-7342-0083-0
