DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0187
caissons. The lantern vault bears a majuscule signature of the
artist: BARTHOLO FLORENTINO OPIFICE. The royal tomb
at the west side blends perfectly with the chapel’s architecture.
In it current shape it dates from 1574—1575, when the niche
was divided horizontally into two tiers, and the sarcophagus
with the figure of Sigismund the Old was moved atop to make
room for the similarly composed one of Sigismund Augustus.
Santi Gucci, responsible for this alteration, also made the slab
with Queen Anne’s figure fronting the royal stall, opposite the
entrance.
On closer analysis, the architecture of the chapel reveals some
departures from classical principles, but the overall impression is
of serenity, harmony and splendour. King Sigismund the Old,
resting in a simple sarcophagus in a crypt below the chapel,
built this mausoleum with the intention of perpetuating the
memory of himself and his dynasty. According to the Renaissance
custom inspired by neo-Platonic philosophy, the king is presented
sleeping, as if he has left the world of the living only temporarily.
The triumphal arch motif, the baldachin of the dome, the Latin
inscriptions, the coats of arms and the portraits of Sigismund the
Old, depicting him as Alexander the Great and Solomon - all
these add up to an ideal image of a sovereign monarch: awesome
to the enemy, kind to his subjects, wise and pious. Despite the
clear tribute to antiquity, this message is rendered in the language
of Christian symbols, as proper for a religious building.
The decoration in the upper section of the chapel belongs to an
entirely different world. The same scene repeats several times:
maritime gods exuding sensuality, their legs becoming split
fishtails, play (perhaps struggle) with nude nymphs. We also
recognize Daphne, Cleopatra and Hercules. The meaning of these
representations, astonishing in a Christian church, has been
a subject of an ongoing debate among Polish art historians. Some
scholars interpret them as an artistic foray of Berrecci, a Hu-
manist full of admiration for the antiquity, who expressed his
belief in the divine power of creation vested in the artist by
180
artist: BARTHOLO FLORENTINO OPIFICE. The royal tomb
at the west side blends perfectly with the chapel’s architecture.
In it current shape it dates from 1574—1575, when the niche
was divided horizontally into two tiers, and the sarcophagus
with the figure of Sigismund the Old was moved atop to make
room for the similarly composed one of Sigismund Augustus.
Santi Gucci, responsible for this alteration, also made the slab
with Queen Anne’s figure fronting the royal stall, opposite the
entrance.
On closer analysis, the architecture of the chapel reveals some
departures from classical principles, but the overall impression is
of serenity, harmony and splendour. King Sigismund the Old,
resting in a simple sarcophagus in a crypt below the chapel,
built this mausoleum with the intention of perpetuating the
memory of himself and his dynasty. According to the Renaissance
custom inspired by neo-Platonic philosophy, the king is presented
sleeping, as if he has left the world of the living only temporarily.
The triumphal arch motif, the baldachin of the dome, the Latin
inscriptions, the coats of arms and the portraits of Sigismund the
Old, depicting him as Alexander the Great and Solomon - all
these add up to an ideal image of a sovereign monarch: awesome
to the enemy, kind to his subjects, wise and pious. Despite the
clear tribute to antiquity, this message is rendered in the language
of Christian symbols, as proper for a religious building.
The decoration in the upper section of the chapel belongs to an
entirely different world. The same scene repeats several times:
maritime gods exuding sensuality, their legs becoming split
fishtails, play (perhaps struggle) with nude nymphs. We also
recognize Daphne, Cleopatra and Hercules. The meaning of these
representations, astonishing in a Christian church, has been
a subject of an ongoing debate among Polish art historians. Some
scholars interpret them as an artistic foray of Berrecci, a Hu-
manist full of admiration for the antiquity, who expressed his
belief in the divine power of creation vested in the artist by
180