DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0304
oratory by the church (the present sacristy), and the monastic
complex was begun. The church interior was drastically re-
modelled at the turn of the eighteenth century, when, due to the
efforts of Father Sebastian Piskorski, Baldassare Fontana effected
a complete redecoration.
St Andrew’s represents, albeit on a small scale, a developed
architectural programme of a Romanesque church on the plan of
a cross, with galleries and a two-towered western facade. Built of
precisely cut limestone blocks, it preserves the original shape with
its distinct proportions. To the most interesting features of its
Romanesque architecture belong the windows on the facade and
the towers, two modest portals and an arcaded frieze adorning the
apse and presbytery. Contrasted with the Romanesque core of the
church are the already-mentioned Gothic oratory in brick and
the copper crownings mounted on the towers in the seven-
teenth century. But a genuine surprise awaits the visitor inside.
The Romanesque architecture has almost completely disappeared
under the stucco decoration by Baldassare Fontana, supplemented
by frescoes illustrating the life of the Blessed Salomea, based on
Jerzy Eleuter Siemiginowski’s engravings. The Baroque artists
thus destroyed the medieval aspect of the building, but in its stead
created a new and original work speaking its own artistic lan-
guage. Particularly fine is the Rococo pulpit symbolically shaped
as the boat of St Peter.
The old ancestry of the monastery and Church of St Andrew’s,
as well as the strict rule isolating the complex from the outside
world helped to preserve many unique objects. A rare example of
Byzantine art to be found in Poland is the portable mosaic of Our
Lady from the turn of the thirteenth century. The best work in
gold is a set of thirteenth-century reliquaries. An interesting
curiosity are the fourteenth-century Nativity figures endowed by
Queen Elizabeth of Hungary.
Directly neighbouring St Andrew’s and the monastery of Poor
Clares, is the massive complex of SS. Peter and Paul’s and the
former Jesuit college, now belonging to the Jagiellonian Univer-
289
complex was begun. The church interior was drastically re-
modelled at the turn of the eighteenth century, when, due to the
efforts of Father Sebastian Piskorski, Baldassare Fontana effected
a complete redecoration.
St Andrew’s represents, albeit on a small scale, a developed
architectural programme of a Romanesque church on the plan of
a cross, with galleries and a two-towered western facade. Built of
precisely cut limestone blocks, it preserves the original shape with
its distinct proportions. To the most interesting features of its
Romanesque architecture belong the windows on the facade and
the towers, two modest portals and an arcaded frieze adorning the
apse and presbytery. Contrasted with the Romanesque core of the
church are the already-mentioned Gothic oratory in brick and
the copper crownings mounted on the towers in the seven-
teenth century. But a genuine surprise awaits the visitor inside.
The Romanesque architecture has almost completely disappeared
under the stucco decoration by Baldassare Fontana, supplemented
by frescoes illustrating the life of the Blessed Salomea, based on
Jerzy Eleuter Siemiginowski’s engravings. The Baroque artists
thus destroyed the medieval aspect of the building, but in its stead
created a new and original work speaking its own artistic lan-
guage. Particularly fine is the Rococo pulpit symbolically shaped
as the boat of St Peter.
The old ancestry of the monastery and Church of St Andrew’s,
as well as the strict rule isolating the complex from the outside
world helped to preserve many unique objects. A rare example of
Byzantine art to be found in Poland is the portable mosaic of Our
Lady from the turn of the thirteenth century. The best work in
gold is a set of thirteenth-century reliquaries. An interesting
curiosity are the fourteenth-century Nativity figures endowed by
Queen Elizabeth of Hungary.
Directly neighbouring St Andrew’s and the monastery of Poor
Clares, is the massive complex of SS. Peter and Paul’s and the
former Jesuit college, now belonging to the Jagiellonian Univer-
289