DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0061
was followed by an era of relative stagnation in the sixteenth
century. No new churches were erected, but many memorial
chapels were built, modelled more or less on the Sigismund
Chapel, still found attractive well into the next century. The most
important public undertaking was the remodeling of the Cloth
Hall, which from 1557 to 1559 received a decorative parapet,
and Renaissance loggias at the shorter sides. In residential archi-
tecture, Renaissance forms were adopted above all in the rectan-
gular arcaded courtyards of the houses owned by the Church
hierarchy on Kanonicza Street. A rare example of a town residence
built by a member of the nobility is the palace commissioned by
Jan Tarnowski (later known as the Wielopolski Palace). In
burgher houses. Renaissance innovations were at first limited
to the stonework of the portals and window frames, without
compromising the traditional structure of the buildings. An
important novelty was the replacement of steep roofs and gables
with parapets masking the sunken roof. Initially the parapets were
to serve for fire protection, as required in a City Council decree
of 1-544. This functional element was gradually given a more
decorative spin, with blind arcades and volute crowning. This
gave rise to the so-called Polish parapet, best exampled in the
cresting of the Cloth Hall and later immensely popular in various
sixteenth- and seventeenth-century buildings.
The situation in painting was much different. The services of
Italian artists were only rarely used, and certain elements of
modern vision crept into the local painting: the renunciation of
Late Gothic conventions, three-dimensional treatment of space,
and the introduction of Renaissance ornamentation and detail.
These can be seen in the Annunciation altarpiece, executed by
Master Jerzy in 1517. The most advanced was miniature painting.
Soon after 1505 the Codex of Balta^ar Behem, a collection of city
laws and privileges, was magnificently decorated with twenty-five
miniatures, presenting mostly the typical occupations of Cracow
citizens. The miniatures are striking in their poignant observa-
tion and brisk narrative. Their distinctive realism, with a lot of
51
century. No new churches were erected, but many memorial
chapels were built, modelled more or less on the Sigismund
Chapel, still found attractive well into the next century. The most
important public undertaking was the remodeling of the Cloth
Hall, which from 1557 to 1559 received a decorative parapet,
and Renaissance loggias at the shorter sides. In residential archi-
tecture, Renaissance forms were adopted above all in the rectan-
gular arcaded courtyards of the houses owned by the Church
hierarchy on Kanonicza Street. A rare example of a town residence
built by a member of the nobility is the palace commissioned by
Jan Tarnowski (later known as the Wielopolski Palace). In
burgher houses. Renaissance innovations were at first limited
to the stonework of the portals and window frames, without
compromising the traditional structure of the buildings. An
important novelty was the replacement of steep roofs and gables
with parapets masking the sunken roof. Initially the parapets were
to serve for fire protection, as required in a City Council decree
of 1-544. This functional element was gradually given a more
decorative spin, with blind arcades and volute crowning. This
gave rise to the so-called Polish parapet, best exampled in the
cresting of the Cloth Hall and later immensely popular in various
sixteenth- and seventeenth-century buildings.
The situation in painting was much different. The services of
Italian artists were only rarely used, and certain elements of
modern vision crept into the local painting: the renunciation of
Late Gothic conventions, three-dimensional treatment of space,
and the introduction of Renaissance ornamentation and detail.
These can be seen in the Annunciation altarpiece, executed by
Master Jerzy in 1517. The most advanced was miniature painting.
Soon after 1505 the Codex of Balta^ar Behem, a collection of city
laws and privileges, was magnificently decorated with twenty-five
miniatures, presenting mostly the typical occupations of Cracow
citizens. The miniatures are striking in their poignant observa-
tion and brisk narrative. Their distinctive realism, with a lot of
51