DOI article:
Nowak, Weronika: „Fabryka” kościoła i klasztoru ss. Norbertanek w Imbramowicach w latach 1711–1740: nowe ustalenia w sprawie finansowania i organizacji prac budowlanych oraz angażowanych artystów
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51255#0108
arrangement independent of the previous structure.9 This thesis was reviewed
and amended in the 1970S by Hanna Pieńkowska, who recognized the monas-
tic compound as “a complex document of spatial and architectural changes”.10
Referring to the study of the walls, carried out by Andrzej Kurpiński, the author
demonstrated that within the structure of the baroque walls of the church it is
possible to find fourteenth-century and fifteenth-century brickwork courses.
In the cited work, it was emphasized that the preserved walls of the tempie do
not only constitute incomplete fragments of the older building, but they reach
higher sections of the walls (see: Figurę 3).11 The author also noted that the sev-
enteenth-century arrangement of the western part of the monastery coincides
with its current layout.12 Despite these correct observations, Hanna Pieńkowska
did not elaborate this thread, and merely attempted to recreate the appearance
of the medieval church. The researcher omitted most of the information on
the spatial arrangement of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century monastery
building noted in the chronicie and in the records of bishops inspections. The ex-
cerpts that she quotes from the sources mentioned above were mainly used to
prove that the compound founded by the Norbertine Sisters, before the fire,
had been a largely wooden building, inevitably “leaning towards ruin”.13 The
records of bishops visitations, preserved in the monastic archive, and the ac-
count of the nuns’ chronicles allow us to conclude a little morę about the ap-
pearance of the compound on the day of the fire, and its actual destruction. In
the first decade of the eighteenth century, there was a brick, single-aisle church
with a nave covered with a painted ceiling, the nuns’ gallery in the west, and an
elongated, vaulted chancel, closed on three sides, and equipped with three Win-
dows.14 The noteworthy parts of the monastery building include a stone cloister15
connected to the chapel located in the west of the church16 and a chapter house
located above it.17 On the west side, these rooms were adjoining a two-story
dormitory built in the 1620S with a stone ground floor and a wooden structure
of the first floor. In the lower floor of the dormitory part, there were separate living
quarters for lay schoolgirls and novices, as well as an infirmary.18 On the upper
Figurę 3. Plan of the
early-modern convent of
Norbertine Nuns in Imbra-
mowice, with the locations
of surviving fragments of
fourteenth- and fifteenth-
century walls of the church
marked in green. Drawing
after Andrzej Krupiński.
-» see p. 71
9 Recently, Krzysztof Rafał Prokop arrived at a similar conclusion. The author noted that the
convent’s church was erected in the location of the former one, while using the latters preserved
“fragments”, but he added that the fire destroyed the church “to such extent that in practice it
was necessary to construct a new sacred building”, see: K.R. Prokop, Fabrica ecclesiae. Budowa
i utrzymanie katolickich miejsc kultu w diecezji krakowskiej w czasach nowożytnych, Warszawa
2011, pp. 288-290.
10 H. Pieńkowska, Dzieje i fabryka, p. 67.
11 Ibidem, pp. 69-71.
12 The author madę similar observations regarding the parish home. Pieńkowska noted that the
Mediaeval priests (provost’s) dwelling was most probably located in the same place, where there
is now an early modern building serving for the same function, see: ibidem, pp. 70, 77-78.
13 Ibidem, pp. 76-77.
14 H. Pieńkowska, Dzieje i fabryka, p. 69; Zofia Grothówna. Kronika klasztorna, pp. 35, 44.
15 akkk, Akta wizytacji biskupich katedry i diecezji krakowskiej, file no. A. Vis. 68,“Dekret refor-
macyjny kardynała Jerzego Radziwiłła wydany po wizytacji pp. Norbertanek w Imbramowicach
w roku 1594”, f. 25-26; ani, file no. C48, f. i6r; Zofia Grothówna. Kronika klasztorna, p. 35.
16 ani, file no. C48, f. 2v.
17 During the studies conducted by Andrzej Kurpiński, sockets of former beams were found above
the present vault of this room, see: H. Pieńkowska, Dzieje i fabryka, p. 78.
18 The need to arrange a separate chamber for lay sisters was mentioned already during the visita-
tion by Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł and bishop Piotr Tylicki. Ultimately, the actual implementation
Fabrica ecclesiae of the church and convent of Norbertine Nuns in Imbramowice...
107
and amended in the 1970S by Hanna Pieńkowska, who recognized the monas-
tic compound as “a complex document of spatial and architectural changes”.10
Referring to the study of the walls, carried out by Andrzej Kurpiński, the author
demonstrated that within the structure of the baroque walls of the church it is
possible to find fourteenth-century and fifteenth-century brickwork courses.
In the cited work, it was emphasized that the preserved walls of the tempie do
not only constitute incomplete fragments of the older building, but they reach
higher sections of the walls (see: Figurę 3).11 The author also noted that the sev-
enteenth-century arrangement of the western part of the monastery coincides
with its current layout.12 Despite these correct observations, Hanna Pieńkowska
did not elaborate this thread, and merely attempted to recreate the appearance
of the medieval church. The researcher omitted most of the information on
the spatial arrangement of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century monastery
building noted in the chronicie and in the records of bishops inspections. The ex-
cerpts that she quotes from the sources mentioned above were mainly used to
prove that the compound founded by the Norbertine Sisters, before the fire,
had been a largely wooden building, inevitably “leaning towards ruin”.13 The
records of bishops visitations, preserved in the monastic archive, and the ac-
count of the nuns’ chronicles allow us to conclude a little morę about the ap-
pearance of the compound on the day of the fire, and its actual destruction. In
the first decade of the eighteenth century, there was a brick, single-aisle church
with a nave covered with a painted ceiling, the nuns’ gallery in the west, and an
elongated, vaulted chancel, closed on three sides, and equipped with three Win-
dows.14 The noteworthy parts of the monastery building include a stone cloister15
connected to the chapel located in the west of the church16 and a chapter house
located above it.17 On the west side, these rooms were adjoining a two-story
dormitory built in the 1620S with a stone ground floor and a wooden structure
of the first floor. In the lower floor of the dormitory part, there were separate living
quarters for lay schoolgirls and novices, as well as an infirmary.18 On the upper
Figurę 3. Plan of the
early-modern convent of
Norbertine Nuns in Imbra-
mowice, with the locations
of surviving fragments of
fourteenth- and fifteenth-
century walls of the church
marked in green. Drawing
after Andrzej Krupiński.
-» see p. 71
9 Recently, Krzysztof Rafał Prokop arrived at a similar conclusion. The author noted that the
convent’s church was erected in the location of the former one, while using the latters preserved
“fragments”, but he added that the fire destroyed the church “to such extent that in practice it
was necessary to construct a new sacred building”, see: K.R. Prokop, Fabrica ecclesiae. Budowa
i utrzymanie katolickich miejsc kultu w diecezji krakowskiej w czasach nowożytnych, Warszawa
2011, pp. 288-290.
10 H. Pieńkowska, Dzieje i fabryka, p. 67.
11 Ibidem, pp. 69-71.
12 The author madę similar observations regarding the parish home. Pieńkowska noted that the
Mediaeval priests (provost’s) dwelling was most probably located in the same place, where there
is now an early modern building serving for the same function, see: ibidem, pp. 70, 77-78.
13 Ibidem, pp. 76-77.
14 H. Pieńkowska, Dzieje i fabryka, p. 69; Zofia Grothówna. Kronika klasztorna, pp. 35, 44.
15 akkk, Akta wizytacji biskupich katedry i diecezji krakowskiej, file no. A. Vis. 68,“Dekret refor-
macyjny kardynała Jerzego Radziwiłła wydany po wizytacji pp. Norbertanek w Imbramowicach
w roku 1594”, f. 25-26; ani, file no. C48, f. i6r; Zofia Grothówna. Kronika klasztorna, p. 35.
16 ani, file no. C48, f. 2v.
17 During the studies conducted by Andrzej Kurpiński, sockets of former beams were found above
the present vault of this room, see: H. Pieńkowska, Dzieje i fabryka, p. 78.
18 The need to arrange a separate chamber for lay sisters was mentioned already during the visita-
tion by Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł and bishop Piotr Tylicki. Ultimately, the actual implementation
Fabrica ecclesiae of the church and convent of Norbertine Nuns in Imbramowice...
107