DOI article:
Grochowska, Weronika: Ze studiów nad gotyckimi nastawami ołtarzowymi w Gdańsku: o specyfice konstrukcji, ikonografii i funkcji gdańskich predell
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43438#0037
dociekań przynoszących ciekawe odkrycia i wnioski. Trudno je jednak obec-
nie w pełni zweryfikować, brakuje bowiem opracowań, które dogłębniej pre-
zentowałyby te zagadnienia w odniesieniu do innych terenów.
From the Studies ofLate Gothic Altarpieces from Gdańsk. Specificity
of Construction, Iconography, and Function of Predellas
The article is about one of the parts of an altarpiece, which is predella. It focuses on
artworks from Gdańsk from the late medieval period. In many of them some unusual and
characteristic elements of their construction, iconography, and function can be found.
In about the 1300s, the first winged altarpieces were created. From the beginning
every element of that kind of artwork had its own constructive and ideological role. One
of these elements was the predella: a decorated „chest” located between the mensa and
corpus, which played both symbolic and utilitarian role.
Among the still existing predellas from Gdańsks churches, seventeen were initially
meant for the interior of St Mary s Church, two for St Catherines Church, and two for The
Holy Trinity Church. The paper also includes two predellas from outside Gdańsk, but it is
believed that both were created in Gdańsks workshops: one from the Church of St Peter
and St Paul in Hel and one from The Assumption of the Holiest Virgin Mary s Collegiate
Church in Kartuzy. Thanks to the pre-war photographic documentation that relatively
Iow number of the existing examples could be increased by six predellas, now missing,
which were a part of the interior decoration of St Mary s Church in Gdańsk.
The newest research results emphasize that the characteristic features of Gdańsks
predellas are combined opening Solutions, where both the front wali and doors on the
sides can be opened. Opening the front wali allowed the faithful to see the predellas
interior, but the space behind the doors on the sides was only visible to clerics. The
predellas from Gdańsk also prove that besides their obvious roles: constructive (rais-
ing the corpus above the mensa) and symbolic (a sarcophagus with relics inside), this
part of the altarpiece sometimes could also play another role: it was a place where the
liturgical vessels and relics were kept and presented, or even a place where the contri-
butions from the faithful were collected.
The specific character of the construction and diversity of functions of Gdańsks
predellas show\ that the part of a medieval altarpiece in ąuestion could constitute
a field for research and yield interesting discoveries and conclusions.
Ze studiów
nad gotyckimi
nastawami...
nie w pełni zweryfikować, brakuje bowiem opracowań, które dogłębniej pre-
zentowałyby te zagadnienia w odniesieniu do innych terenów.
From the Studies ofLate Gothic Altarpieces from Gdańsk. Specificity
of Construction, Iconography, and Function of Predellas
The article is about one of the parts of an altarpiece, which is predella. It focuses on
artworks from Gdańsk from the late medieval period. In many of them some unusual and
characteristic elements of their construction, iconography, and function can be found.
In about the 1300s, the first winged altarpieces were created. From the beginning
every element of that kind of artwork had its own constructive and ideological role. One
of these elements was the predella: a decorated „chest” located between the mensa and
corpus, which played both symbolic and utilitarian role.
Among the still existing predellas from Gdańsks churches, seventeen were initially
meant for the interior of St Mary s Church, two for St Catherines Church, and two for The
Holy Trinity Church. The paper also includes two predellas from outside Gdańsk, but it is
believed that both were created in Gdańsks workshops: one from the Church of St Peter
and St Paul in Hel and one from The Assumption of the Holiest Virgin Mary s Collegiate
Church in Kartuzy. Thanks to the pre-war photographic documentation that relatively
Iow number of the existing examples could be increased by six predellas, now missing,
which were a part of the interior decoration of St Mary s Church in Gdańsk.
The newest research results emphasize that the characteristic features of Gdańsks
predellas are combined opening Solutions, where both the front wali and doors on the
sides can be opened. Opening the front wali allowed the faithful to see the predellas
interior, but the space behind the doors on the sides was only visible to clerics. The
predellas from Gdańsk also prove that besides their obvious roles: constructive (rais-
ing the corpus above the mensa) and symbolic (a sarcophagus with relics inside), this
part of the altarpiece sometimes could also play another role: it was a place where the
liturgical vessels and relics were kept and presented, or even a place where the contri-
butions from the faithful were collected.
The specific character of the construction and diversity of functions of Gdańsks
predellas show\ that the part of a medieval altarpiece in ąuestion could constitute
a field for research and yield interesting discoveries and conclusions.
Ze studiów
nad gotyckimi
nastawami...