DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0161
Senatorska), where Renaissance makes a comeback. Its walls and
windows are covered with tapestries, especially of the grand Noah
Cycle. This extraordinary interior hosted the Senate assemblies,
but also balls and theatre spectacles, thence the wooden musicians’
gallery at the west wall.
The Senators’ Hall is adjoined by the monumental staircase
called Senators’ or Royal Staircase, built by Trevano. Even in this
strictly functional feature prevails the proclivity for Baroque
pomp. In contrast to the steep and uncomfortable Envoys’
Staircase here the flights rise gently, and between each floor
level is a landing. The steps are low, the staircase is wide and
tunnel-vaulted, allowing a king’s splendid retinue to pass.
The first floor rooms are not open to the general public
because of their smaller size. They used to serve various purposes,
most of all as private royal chambers and courtiers’ rooms. Their
decor and furnishings are more modest than upstairs, although in
places no less interesting. A number of original sixteenth-century
beam ceilings are preserved here, and a large group of richly
decorated portals ascribed to Master Benedykt, combining Late
Gothic and Renaissance ornamentation into a fanciful mixture.
The section south of the Envoys’ Staircase has Renaissance furni-
shings, mostly Italian paintings, furniture and ceramics. The
highlight is the reconstructed Sigismund the Old’s bed chamber,
with the oldest tapestry (from the second half of the fifteenth
century) on display. Other rooms of the east and north wing
contain extensive collections of paintings and decorative arts from
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
As royal residence, the Wawel Castle housed the Royal
Treasury, including the crown jewels and the most important state
documents. Probably beginning in the fifteenth century, the
Treasury was in the lower, still-preserved Gothic storey of the
Hen’s Foot. The Crown Treasury was at its fullest in the era of
the last Jagiellonians, especially during the reign of Sigismund
Augustus, who was a passionate jewels collector. The Treasury
still remained in the Wawel after the transfer of the capital to
154
windows are covered with tapestries, especially of the grand Noah
Cycle. This extraordinary interior hosted the Senate assemblies,
but also balls and theatre spectacles, thence the wooden musicians’
gallery at the west wall.
The Senators’ Hall is adjoined by the monumental staircase
called Senators’ or Royal Staircase, built by Trevano. Even in this
strictly functional feature prevails the proclivity for Baroque
pomp. In contrast to the steep and uncomfortable Envoys’
Staircase here the flights rise gently, and between each floor
level is a landing. The steps are low, the staircase is wide and
tunnel-vaulted, allowing a king’s splendid retinue to pass.
The first floor rooms are not open to the general public
because of their smaller size. They used to serve various purposes,
most of all as private royal chambers and courtiers’ rooms. Their
decor and furnishings are more modest than upstairs, although in
places no less interesting. A number of original sixteenth-century
beam ceilings are preserved here, and a large group of richly
decorated portals ascribed to Master Benedykt, combining Late
Gothic and Renaissance ornamentation into a fanciful mixture.
The section south of the Envoys’ Staircase has Renaissance furni-
shings, mostly Italian paintings, furniture and ceramics. The
highlight is the reconstructed Sigismund the Old’s bed chamber,
with the oldest tapestry (from the second half of the fifteenth
century) on display. Other rooms of the east and north wing
contain extensive collections of paintings and decorative arts from
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
As royal residence, the Wawel Castle housed the Royal
Treasury, including the crown jewels and the most important state
documents. Probably beginning in the fifteenth century, the
Treasury was in the lower, still-preserved Gothic storey of the
Hen’s Foot. The Crown Treasury was at its fullest in the era of
the last Jagiellonians, especially during the reign of Sigismund
Augustus, who was a passionate jewels collector. The Treasury
still remained in the Wawel after the transfer of the capital to
154