DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41589#0045
Marek Walczak
Cracow
Remarks on Late-Gothic Vaults in Lesser
Poland. The Role os the Founder in the Studies
of Gothic Architecture in Central Europe
The latest studies have definitely disproved a theory concerning the origins of the
’’uniform” net vaulting in the chancel of a 15th-century Dominican church in Cracow.
The finding of the true date of the death of the foundress of this vaulting — Katarzyna,
from the Melsztynski family — shifts the date ad quem of that event to the year 14651.
Studies of archive materials support such an assumption, providing a information about
the masonry master Klemens, who erected the vaults of the Cracow Dominican church
in 14672. However it would now appear that the earliest example of a ’’uniform” net
vault in Lesser Poland survived in a provincial church in Piotrawin, founded by
Zbigniew Olesnicki, Bishop of Cracow from 1423—1455 (Figs 34, 35)3. The Piotrawin
church was erected in the years 1440—1442 as a votive offering for the dignity achieved
in the church hierarchy4. The church was raised at the site where the patron saint of the
Cracow diocese, St. Stanislaus was said to have performed his most famous miracle
— he brought the dead proprietor of the village, the knight Piotr, back to life. He was to
testify post mortem that he had sold his property to the Church and that it belonged
lawfully to the Cracow diocese. The church erected according to bishop Olesnicki’s wish
was dedicated to St. Stanislaus. The erection of the church on the site sanctified by the
patron saint of the diocese, financed by his successor, must have had a special meaning
for the people of those days.
Piotrawin was then situated on the eastern border of the Cracow diocese, in the
Lublin region, since the beginning of the 15th century within the scope of interest of the
neighbouring diocese of Chelm. Its administrator Jan Biskupiec, father confessor of the
king, made efforts to take over the land and to move its bishopric to Lublin. He even
obtained a favourable decree from the Pope. The project failed owing to an
exceptionally firm counteraction on the part of the young Cracow bishop, who opposed
the shrinking of his diocese5. Defending the church property in his charge, Olesnicki
followed his patron saint, who brought the knight Piotr back to life to confirm his right
to the land6. Modest size and simple forms, so characteristic of the architecture of Little
Poland from the 1st half of the 15th century7, cannot diminish the importance of the
church erected at that place.
A careful inspection of the walls of the eastern wing of the cloister of the Cracow
Franciscan church, partly rebuilt in the 17th century, suggests that also that interior was
partly covered by a "uniform” net vault (Fig. 36)8. In the northern bay of the wing star
43
Cracow
Remarks on Late-Gothic Vaults in Lesser
Poland. The Role os the Founder in the Studies
of Gothic Architecture in Central Europe
The latest studies have definitely disproved a theory concerning the origins of the
’’uniform” net vaulting in the chancel of a 15th-century Dominican church in Cracow.
The finding of the true date of the death of the foundress of this vaulting — Katarzyna,
from the Melsztynski family — shifts the date ad quem of that event to the year 14651.
Studies of archive materials support such an assumption, providing a information about
the masonry master Klemens, who erected the vaults of the Cracow Dominican church
in 14672. However it would now appear that the earliest example of a ’’uniform” net
vault in Lesser Poland survived in a provincial church in Piotrawin, founded by
Zbigniew Olesnicki, Bishop of Cracow from 1423—1455 (Figs 34, 35)3. The Piotrawin
church was erected in the years 1440—1442 as a votive offering for the dignity achieved
in the church hierarchy4. The church was raised at the site where the patron saint of the
Cracow diocese, St. Stanislaus was said to have performed his most famous miracle
— he brought the dead proprietor of the village, the knight Piotr, back to life. He was to
testify post mortem that he had sold his property to the Church and that it belonged
lawfully to the Cracow diocese. The church erected according to bishop Olesnicki’s wish
was dedicated to St. Stanislaus. The erection of the church on the site sanctified by the
patron saint of the diocese, financed by his successor, must have had a special meaning
for the people of those days.
Piotrawin was then situated on the eastern border of the Cracow diocese, in the
Lublin region, since the beginning of the 15th century within the scope of interest of the
neighbouring diocese of Chelm. Its administrator Jan Biskupiec, father confessor of the
king, made efforts to take over the land and to move its bishopric to Lublin. He even
obtained a favourable decree from the Pope. The project failed owing to an
exceptionally firm counteraction on the part of the young Cracow bishop, who opposed
the shrinking of his diocese5. Defending the church property in his charge, Olesnicki
followed his patron saint, who brought the knight Piotr back to life to confirm his right
to the land6. Modest size and simple forms, so characteristic of the architecture of Little
Poland from the 1st half of the 15th century7, cannot diminish the importance of the
church erected at that place.
A careful inspection of the walls of the eastern wing of the cloister of the Cracow
Franciscan church, partly rebuilt in the 17th century, suggests that also that interior was
partly covered by a "uniform” net vault (Fig. 36)8. In the northern bay of the wing star
43