DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0183
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The chapel also includes two very fine
fifteenth-century triptychs, of the Holy Trinity and Our Lady of
Sorrows; and the tomb of Casimir Jagiellon, one of the most
expressive works of Veit Stoss. A jarring note in this virtual mu-
seum of fifteenth-century art, is the funerary monument of Bishop
Kajetan Soltyk from the second half of the eighteenth century.
The earliest in the sequence of Renaissance chapels is the
Sigismund Chapel in the corner between the south arm of the
transept and the ambulatory. Designed in 1517 by Bartolomeo
Berrecci and built in 1519—1533, it is the purest single example
of Renaissance architecture outside Italy. In its architectural and
decorative concept. King Sigismund the Old’s. mausoleum is
modelled on the best Tuscan examples from the fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries, including even some designs by Leonardo, but
it does not slavishly copy any one of them. The square ground
plan embodies the Renaissance conviction of the perfection of
central form.. The cubic main body, with spare decoration, is
topped by an octagonal drum with circular windows, bearing
a dome with a lantern, of distinctly Florentine provenance. The
slim, almost tower-like proportions of the entire structure were
dictated by the need to conform with the Gothic surroundings,
and the lofty shell of the dome, gilded towards the end of the
sixteenth century, is the most imposing feature in the south
elevation of the Cathedral.
The chapel is accessed from the ambulatory through a bronze
grid door executed in the Nuremberg workshop of the Vischer
family. The interior strikes one with the richness of its grotesque
decorations, which nonetheless do not disrupt the clear balance of
the architecture. The colour tone is set by the light-gray sandstone
facing the walls and the red marble of the statuary. The composi-
tion of the chapel walls is based on the classical scheme of the
triumphal arch. Placed in niches are a silver altarpiece by the finest
Nuremberg artists, a royal tomb and royal stalls, and figures of
saints. The profuse and evenly spread lighting is provided by the
drum windows, above which perches the shell of the dome, with
fifteenth-century triptychs, of the Holy Trinity and Our Lady of
Sorrows; and the tomb of Casimir Jagiellon, one of the most
expressive works of Veit Stoss. A jarring note in this virtual mu-
seum of fifteenth-century art, is the funerary monument of Bishop
Kajetan Soltyk from the second half of the eighteenth century.
The earliest in the sequence of Renaissance chapels is the
Sigismund Chapel in the corner between the south arm of the
transept and the ambulatory. Designed in 1517 by Bartolomeo
Berrecci and built in 1519—1533, it is the purest single example
of Renaissance architecture outside Italy. In its architectural and
decorative concept. King Sigismund the Old’s. mausoleum is
modelled on the best Tuscan examples from the fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries, including even some designs by Leonardo, but
it does not slavishly copy any one of them. The square ground
plan embodies the Renaissance conviction of the perfection of
central form.. The cubic main body, with spare decoration, is
topped by an octagonal drum with circular windows, bearing
a dome with a lantern, of distinctly Florentine provenance. The
slim, almost tower-like proportions of the entire structure were
dictated by the need to conform with the Gothic surroundings,
and the lofty shell of the dome, gilded towards the end of the
sixteenth century, is the most imposing feature in the south
elevation of the Cathedral.
The chapel is accessed from the ambulatory through a bronze
grid door executed in the Nuremberg workshop of the Vischer
family. The interior strikes one with the richness of its grotesque
decorations, which nonetheless do not disrupt the clear balance of
the architecture. The colour tone is set by the light-gray sandstone
facing the walls and the red marble of the statuary. The composi-
tion of the chapel walls is based on the classical scheme of the
triumphal arch. Placed in niches are a silver altarpiece by the finest
Nuremberg artists, a royal tomb and royal stalls, and figures of
saints. The profuse and evenly spread lighting is provided by the
drum windows, above which perches the shell of the dome, with