THE SIGISMUND CHAPEL. KING SOLOMON, PRINCEPS FUNDATOR

• Authors: Morka M.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Analysing earlier research on the decorative content of the Sigismund Chapel, the author emphasizes its dependence on neo-Platonic philosophy, when in actual fact no clear proof exists that the Chapel's founder alongside its creator, Berrecci, were even familiar with this philosophy. The main premise for the author's analysis is the fact that the Chapel was raised during the king's lifetime, serving him as a private place of prayer. Themes of a religious and eschatological content thus had to be included in its interior furbishing, but the principle premises were connected with the monarch's political ideology, possibly supplemented with messages propagating the Jagiellonians' dynastic politics. While statements by such leading Polish art historians as J. Bialostocki. L. Kalinowski and S. Mossakowski drew exclusively on the current state of knowledge, absolutely no evidence survives from the time of the Chapel's actual construction. Aspects of a monarch's duties to his subjects in both peace and war are clearly depicted in the chapel's interior decoration. Identification with the methods of practising power as expounded by kings David and Solomon in the Old Testament, adopted under Pepin and Charlemagne, is reflected in the tondo of king Solomon, whose facial features match those of Sigismund I. Well informed on the principles of monarchical ideology and contents of the psalms, it was the king himself who decided which biblical motifs were to be inscribed, while changing the expression of selected themes to suit his own personal ambitions.

Keywords

EN

AUTHORITARIANISM (DIVINE RIGHT); SIGISMUND CHAPEL (CRACOW)

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Sztuki PAN
• Journal: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki
• Year: 2005
• Volume: 67
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 59-96
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Morka M.

• M. Morka, c/o Instytut Sztuki PAN, ul. Dluga 26-28, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

05PLAAAA00531356