DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0043
12. St John the Almsgiver’s polyptych, c. 1504
life of the Virgin. Attempts at strong characterization at times
make the figures into caricatures, and the golden background
often gives way to landscape. Despite their religious themes, some
paintings include contemporary scenes, splendidly rendering the
richness and colour of the Late Middle Ages. The last large-scale
altarpieces of Late Gothic in Cracow are the polyptych of
St John the Almsgiver from St Catherine’s Church (c. 1504) and
the Bodzentyn triptych by Marcin Czarny (before 1508), where
the spatial arrangement and the characterization of the figures
adumbrates the Renaissance. As in sculpture, the medieval tradi-
tions in the Cracow painting survived well into the sixteenth
century, reluctantly succumbing to modern trends.
The development of miniature painting followed similar lines.
Wall paintings were also produced, the richest group surviving in
the cloister of the Franciscan monastery. Besides the Gothic
wall-painting Cracow also has an example of a Byzantine style
decoration, painted by Ruthenian artists in the Holy Cross Chapel
in the Wawel Cathedral, on commission from Casimir Jagiellon.
40
life of the Virgin. Attempts at strong characterization at times
make the figures into caricatures, and the golden background
often gives way to landscape. Despite their religious themes, some
paintings include contemporary scenes, splendidly rendering the
richness and colour of the Late Middle Ages. The last large-scale
altarpieces of Late Gothic in Cracow are the polyptych of
St John the Almsgiver from St Catherine’s Church (c. 1504) and
the Bodzentyn triptych by Marcin Czarny (before 1508), where
the spatial arrangement and the characterization of the figures
adumbrates the Renaissance. As in sculpture, the medieval tradi-
tions in the Cracow painting survived well into the sixteenth
century, reluctantly succumbing to modern trends.
The development of miniature painting followed similar lines.
Wall paintings were also produced, the richest group surviving in
the cloister of the Franciscan monastery. Besides the Gothic
wall-painting Cracow also has an example of a Byzantine style
decoration, painted by Ruthenian artists in the Holy Cross Chapel
in the Wawel Cathedral, on commission from Casimir Jagiellon.
40