Krucyfiksy znad wejścia do dawnego szpitala św. Jakuba w Toruniu, ul. Szpitalna 4

• Authors: Waszak Przemysław

Title variants

EN

Crucifixes from above the entrance to the former St James’s Hospital in Toruń, 4 Szpitalna Street

DE

Kruzifixe über dem Eingang der ehemaligen St. Jacob in Toruń ( Thorn), ul. Szpitalna (Hospitalstrasse) 4

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This article presents an analysis of two carved, polychrome crucifixes placed in the niche of the façade of a tenement house in Szpitalna Street, historically located in the New Town of Toruń, near the choir of the Gothic, basilica-style St James’s Church. An unknown archival photograph of a Gothic crucifix has been introduced into the scholarly circulation. The Author points out that when considering works of art, especially useful are the many promising, still un-digitised, only locally available collections of archival photographs of the two very rich Marburg photo libraries, where he carried out thorough research during his stay at the Herder Institute in Marburg. The text discusses the currently exhibited Crucifixion, which probably dates from the 17th/18th century, until recently thickly and monochromatically repainted. The paper indicates discrepancies in the state of research, due, among others, to the fact that over a period of some 90 years research verdicts were formulated on the basis of inspection of other crucifixes placed at the same site. The article provides a description and a stylistic-typological analysis, and the crucifix is compared to other Crucifixions and representative works of the Beautiful style, in particular to a crucifix dating to the first quarter of the 15th century from the nearby Chełmża Holy Trinity Cathedral, then the capital of the Chełmno diocese. The proposed context is that of the spirituality of the time, a trend of new piety correlating well with the complex, contrasting, subtle form and explicit expression of suffering encapsulated in the sculpture created in the first quarter of the 15th century. It has been pointed out that despite stylistic and typological similarities the spiritual contexts are characterised by distinctiveness in relation to the work from Chełmża, which served as a direct model. The Author has shown the specificity of the artistic influences and the formation of the local tradition of the work of the Gothic woodcarving workshops, as well as the common features of the sculptural works of a part of the territory of the Teutonic Order’s state in Prussia. The article compares the processes of adoption of artistic forms, close imitations in works of art created by successive sculptors, which can be observed in Chełmno Land and Gdańsk Pomerania, to similar trends in works involving sacred, Gothic wooden sculpture, showing the Passion Group of a selected workshop and its imitators in the southern Norwegian diocese with its capital in Hamar.

• Publisher: Muzeum w Grudziądzu
• Journal: Rocznik Grudziądzki
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 30
• Pages: 19-37

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Waszak Przemysław

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3235-9793