DOI issue:
Nr. 4
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Średniowieczny skarbiec ko¬ścioła klasztornego w Trzemesznie
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71009#0709
Średniowieczny skarbiec kościoła klasztornego w Trzemesznie
693
goldsmithery which safely arrived in Poland after
WW II, is a silver and gilded chalice from the gift
of King Casimir the Great. Executed in 1351, it
consists of a circular foot planted on a little pedestal,
a short cylindrical stem with a flattened node, and
a relatively deep, though smooth cup. On the foot
edge it features a majuscule founding inscription,
and above it repousse whirling and elongated leaves
of an unidentified plant and three four-leaf me-
dallions with engraved busts of the Man of Sorrows,
Our Lady, and St Adalbert, set against dark-blue
transparent enamel. The decoration of the chalice's
stem is made up of friezes cast of semicircular
arcades. Along the circumference, the node features
six oval protuberances with the engraved busts of
Christ, Our Lady, and four Evangelists against
a similar dark-blue enamel and six cast small rosettes,
while on the top and below, there are repousse
whirling oak twigs with leaves and acorns, as well as
repousse petals with openwork tracery motifs (Figs.
23-25). The described chalice, chronologically the
first of those preserved gold-smithery donations of
Casimir the Great for the churches in the Kingdom,
was generally attributed to a workshop active in
Kuyavia or Greater Poland. Today, however, more
and more often its affiliation with the Kraków
goldsmithery circles has been emphasized.
The second of this Trzemeszno group of works
was, just as the first one, a silver and gilded mass
chalice, yet executed already in 1414 (Figs. 2,28). It
featured a six-lobed foot and one of the fields bore
an engraved effigy of its founder - kneeling Provost
Andrzej with his hands folded in prayer and the
Poraj coat of arms which undoubtedly referred to
the half-figure filling in the adjacent field, namely
St Adalbert (Figs. 29, 30), since Provost Andrzej
(1407/08-1435) himself did not come from a noble
family. The four remaining fields of the chalice foot
were engraved with half-figures of Christ in tomb
with the Instruments of the Passion, Our Lady with
Child, St Stanislaus, and St John the Baptist, while
the hexagonal stem was decorated with minuscule
inscriptions against dark-blue enamel (Figs. 32-35).
The same dark-blue enamel was used to fill in the
background of the minuscule inscription of six
rhomboid protuberances of the flattened node. The
cup was contained within a small casing with an
engraved glory (?) and cast lace of large leaves,
featuring above it founding inscriptions in
minuscule. The chalice donated by Provost Andrzej
was most likely executed by a goldsmith active in
Poznań, possibly even the same one, who made
a similar piece in 1427 which had been preserved to
WW II in the Poznań Ursuline Nunnery (Fig. 36).
It was also within the Poznań goldsmithery
circles that three more Trzemeszno chalices were
made, among them those dated back to around 1500
and the early 16th-century - the chalice featuring the
Crucifixion Group on the foot (Figs. 2, 37), the
chalice donated by the Parish Priest Maciej of
Kłecko and a Late Gothic ciborium, of which the
only thing know is that, made of gilded silver, it was
repoussage-decorated.
Moreover, the Trzemeszno cross-shaped reli-
quary is also attributed to the Poznań goldsmithery.
The object in question is a silver and gilded reliquary
from about 1491, already by Julius Kohte identified
as the donation of Abbot Jan Wronowski (1481-
-1504). The piece, similarly as a number of many of
its contemporary examples of Greater Poland
goldsmithery, consisted of a large eight-lobed foot,
anchored in a small pedestal with an openwork
tracery frieze, and an octagonal stem with a bal-
dachin-node of crossing arches to form an ogee arch,
typical of this circle. The fields on the foot were also
enclosed within ogee arches and the broader ones of
those were buckled. The arms of the cross itself had
three-leaf endings and on the edges the cross was
decorated with smaller cast fleurons, while with
larger ones on the corners. On the obverse, at the
point of the arms crossing, there was a cast figure of
Christ on the engraved internal cross, and in the
three-leaf endings there are cast, yet disproportio-
nally small in relation to the occupied surface,
symbols of four Evangelists with streamers, while in
the crowning a cast figure of a pelican feeding the
chicks with its own blood could be seen. On the
obverse, the arms' crossing point was filled with a
circular glazed container with the relics of the Holy
Cross (?), while the arms and their endings contained
other glazed relics containers or gems (Figs. 2, 38,
39). What happened with the reliquary following
WW II remains unknown.
Moreover, the fate of two of the Trzemeszno
reliquaries of St Adalbert is unknown. The first of
them, erroneously defined by Julius Kohte as that
for the hand of the saint martyr, commissioned by
Abbot Andrzej Drzążyński (1504-1522), executed
in 1507, was an elongated wooden chest with a four-
sided body on a concave pedestal, and a barrel-
-schaped lid on hinges that were fixed with silver,
partially gilded and engraved, sheet metal fittings
(Figs. 44, 45). The front wall of the chest body
featured St Augustine flanked by standing St Peter
and St Paul, and before him there was Abbot
Drzążyński, reliquary founder, kneeling with his
Doliwa coat of arms, together with an unidentified
knight accompanied by his son and an unidentified
woman with her daughter. On the back wall there
was an unidentified clergyman and an unidentified
knight of the Ostrzew coat of arms kneeling before
St Adalbert, who was standing beheaded with his
693
goldsmithery which safely arrived in Poland after
WW II, is a silver and gilded chalice from the gift
of King Casimir the Great. Executed in 1351, it
consists of a circular foot planted on a little pedestal,
a short cylindrical stem with a flattened node, and
a relatively deep, though smooth cup. On the foot
edge it features a majuscule founding inscription,
and above it repousse whirling and elongated leaves
of an unidentified plant and three four-leaf me-
dallions with engraved busts of the Man of Sorrows,
Our Lady, and St Adalbert, set against dark-blue
transparent enamel. The decoration of the chalice's
stem is made up of friezes cast of semicircular
arcades. Along the circumference, the node features
six oval protuberances with the engraved busts of
Christ, Our Lady, and four Evangelists against
a similar dark-blue enamel and six cast small rosettes,
while on the top and below, there are repousse
whirling oak twigs with leaves and acorns, as well as
repousse petals with openwork tracery motifs (Figs.
23-25). The described chalice, chronologically the
first of those preserved gold-smithery donations of
Casimir the Great for the churches in the Kingdom,
was generally attributed to a workshop active in
Kuyavia or Greater Poland. Today, however, more
and more often its affiliation with the Kraków
goldsmithery circles has been emphasized.
The second of this Trzemeszno group of works
was, just as the first one, a silver and gilded mass
chalice, yet executed already in 1414 (Figs. 2,28). It
featured a six-lobed foot and one of the fields bore
an engraved effigy of its founder - kneeling Provost
Andrzej with his hands folded in prayer and the
Poraj coat of arms which undoubtedly referred to
the half-figure filling in the adjacent field, namely
St Adalbert (Figs. 29, 30), since Provost Andrzej
(1407/08-1435) himself did not come from a noble
family. The four remaining fields of the chalice foot
were engraved with half-figures of Christ in tomb
with the Instruments of the Passion, Our Lady with
Child, St Stanislaus, and St John the Baptist, while
the hexagonal stem was decorated with minuscule
inscriptions against dark-blue enamel (Figs. 32-35).
The same dark-blue enamel was used to fill in the
background of the minuscule inscription of six
rhomboid protuberances of the flattened node. The
cup was contained within a small casing with an
engraved glory (?) and cast lace of large leaves,
featuring above it founding inscriptions in
minuscule. The chalice donated by Provost Andrzej
was most likely executed by a goldsmith active in
Poznań, possibly even the same one, who made
a similar piece in 1427 which had been preserved to
WW II in the Poznań Ursuline Nunnery (Fig. 36).
It was also within the Poznań goldsmithery
circles that three more Trzemeszno chalices were
made, among them those dated back to around 1500
and the early 16th-century - the chalice featuring the
Crucifixion Group on the foot (Figs. 2, 37), the
chalice donated by the Parish Priest Maciej of
Kłecko and a Late Gothic ciborium, of which the
only thing know is that, made of gilded silver, it was
repoussage-decorated.
Moreover, the Trzemeszno cross-shaped reli-
quary is also attributed to the Poznań goldsmithery.
The object in question is a silver and gilded reliquary
from about 1491, already by Julius Kohte identified
as the donation of Abbot Jan Wronowski (1481-
-1504). The piece, similarly as a number of many of
its contemporary examples of Greater Poland
goldsmithery, consisted of a large eight-lobed foot,
anchored in a small pedestal with an openwork
tracery frieze, and an octagonal stem with a bal-
dachin-node of crossing arches to form an ogee arch,
typical of this circle. The fields on the foot were also
enclosed within ogee arches and the broader ones of
those were buckled. The arms of the cross itself had
three-leaf endings and on the edges the cross was
decorated with smaller cast fleurons, while with
larger ones on the corners. On the obverse, at the
point of the arms crossing, there was a cast figure of
Christ on the engraved internal cross, and in the
three-leaf endings there are cast, yet disproportio-
nally small in relation to the occupied surface,
symbols of four Evangelists with streamers, while in
the crowning a cast figure of a pelican feeding the
chicks with its own blood could be seen. On the
obverse, the arms' crossing point was filled with a
circular glazed container with the relics of the Holy
Cross (?), while the arms and their endings contained
other glazed relics containers or gems (Figs. 2, 38,
39). What happened with the reliquary following
WW II remains unknown.
Moreover, the fate of two of the Trzemeszno
reliquaries of St Adalbert is unknown. The first of
them, erroneously defined by Julius Kohte as that
for the hand of the saint martyr, commissioned by
Abbot Andrzej Drzążyński (1504-1522), executed
in 1507, was an elongated wooden chest with a four-
sided body on a concave pedestal, and a barrel-
-schaped lid on hinges that were fixed with silver,
partially gilded and engraved, sheet metal fittings
(Figs. 44, 45). The front wall of the chest body
featured St Augustine flanked by standing St Peter
and St Paul, and before him there was Abbot
Drzążyński, reliquary founder, kneeling with his
Doliwa coat of arms, together with an unidentified
knight accompanied by his son and an unidentified
woman with her daughter. On the back wall there
was an unidentified clergyman and an unidentified
knight of the Ostrzew coat of arms kneeling before
St Adalbert, who was standing beheaded with his