DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0309
fruit of prolonged experiments in Italian architecture, which
attempted to reconcile Renaissance aesthetic principles with the
practical demands of liturgy. In the scheme described above, the
domed part corresponds to the humanist vision of an ideal temple,
the spacious nave is capable of holding large congregations, and
the separated side chapels serve for private worship. The facade,
comprising two storeys of unequal width, is the most organic and
aesthetically optimal solution of fronting a basilica church. The
Jesuit model was subjected in Cracow to significant transfor-
mations. The plan was slightly simplified, but above all, the
proportions achieved a slenderness unknown in Italian architec-
ture. This is explained mostly by the location of the new church
and the necessity to accommodate its forms to the still predomi-
nantly Gothic surroundings. This awareness of the existing urban
pattern is best perceived in the view of the church from the Wawel
castle. In this panorama, SS. Peter and Paul’s is the first in
a line of three monumental buildings, the Dominican Church and
St Mary’s being the other two.
The new structure completely altered the architectural layout
of its surroundings. Since Grodzka Street was narrow and ran
aslant the points of the compass, the fagade of the church had to be
set back. A small court was thus created, but it was not until
1715—1722 that Kasper Bazanka fenced it with a monumental
enclosure of stone plinths bearing statues of the Apostles. Bazanka
displayed a skill to use effects of perspective, and, by asymmetrical
shaping of the plinths on rhomboidal plans, disguised the fact that
the street and the fagade do not run parallel. After the last war, the
enclosure was dismantled in order to repair the severely damaged
statues. The recently placed replicas restore the illusionist effect,
but are artistically indifferent.
The interior of SS. Peter and Paul’s has a slightly cold and
austere feeling. Falconi’s stuccowork is concentrated on the apse
vaulting and in the side chapels. The altars and tombs are
overborne by the monumental architecture. The austerity of the
entire building, combined with the refinement and even elegance
294
attempted to reconcile Renaissance aesthetic principles with the
practical demands of liturgy. In the scheme described above, the
domed part corresponds to the humanist vision of an ideal temple,
the spacious nave is capable of holding large congregations, and
the separated side chapels serve for private worship. The facade,
comprising two storeys of unequal width, is the most organic and
aesthetically optimal solution of fronting a basilica church. The
Jesuit model was subjected in Cracow to significant transfor-
mations. The plan was slightly simplified, but above all, the
proportions achieved a slenderness unknown in Italian architec-
ture. This is explained mostly by the location of the new church
and the necessity to accommodate its forms to the still predomi-
nantly Gothic surroundings. This awareness of the existing urban
pattern is best perceived in the view of the church from the Wawel
castle. In this panorama, SS. Peter and Paul’s is the first in
a line of three monumental buildings, the Dominican Church and
St Mary’s being the other two.
The new structure completely altered the architectural layout
of its surroundings. Since Grodzka Street was narrow and ran
aslant the points of the compass, the fagade of the church had to be
set back. A small court was thus created, but it was not until
1715—1722 that Kasper Bazanka fenced it with a monumental
enclosure of stone plinths bearing statues of the Apostles. Bazanka
displayed a skill to use effects of perspective, and, by asymmetrical
shaping of the plinths on rhomboidal plans, disguised the fact that
the street and the fagade do not run parallel. After the last war, the
enclosure was dismantled in order to repair the severely damaged
statues. The recently placed replicas restore the illusionist effect,
but are artistically indifferent.
The interior of SS. Peter and Paul’s has a slightly cold and
austere feeling. Falconi’s stuccowork is concentrated on the apse
vaulting and in the side chapels. The altars and tombs are
overborne by the monumental architecture. The austerity of the
entire building, combined with the refinement and even elegance
294