DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43489#0058
52
Andrzej Józef Baranowski
Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, erected in the period of the Roman Counterreforma-
tion, with the religious programme, aristocratic families and Marian devotion, are key
to the understanding of numerous foundations and their employers in Middle Europe.
Polish chapel-mausoleums according to the Roman model were first erected in this
part of Europe and were characterised by a prominent artistic class. The two chapels
of prince families, the descending Zbaraskis and ascending Lubomirskis in Cracow,
meant that the idea of papal chapels had grown roots in the Polish Republic.
The most prominent building erected under the influence of Roman was the St.
Casimir’s chapel at the cathedral in Vilnius. It was built on the initiative of King
Sigismund III Vasa as a mausoleum for St. Casimir Jagiellon, but in reality it was
also a pantheon of the Jagiellons and Vasas in connection with the Habsburgs. The
propaganda symbol of the pantheon was directed at the Lithuanian magnates who
competed with the monarch and the Habsburgs who had earlier competed with Sigis-
mund for the Polish throne. The reconciliation between Sigismund and the Habsburgs
was credited to the efforts of Pope Sixtus V and his envoy Inpolito Aldobrandini,
the later Pope Clement VIII. This event was depicted in the sculpture scenes and
inscriptions on the papal tombs in the two Roman chapels. The erection of the three
Vasa’s pantheons in Cracow and Vilnius repeated the Habsburgs’ dynastic program-
me. Their mausoleums were placed in various capitals of the monarchy.
Translated by Jan Kłos
Andrzej Józef Baranowski
Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, erected in the period of the Roman Counterreforma-
tion, with the religious programme, aristocratic families and Marian devotion, are key
to the understanding of numerous foundations and their employers in Middle Europe.
Polish chapel-mausoleums according to the Roman model were first erected in this
part of Europe and were characterised by a prominent artistic class. The two chapels
of prince families, the descending Zbaraskis and ascending Lubomirskis in Cracow,
meant that the idea of papal chapels had grown roots in the Polish Republic.
The most prominent building erected under the influence of Roman was the St.
Casimir’s chapel at the cathedral in Vilnius. It was built on the initiative of King
Sigismund III Vasa as a mausoleum for St. Casimir Jagiellon, but in reality it was
also a pantheon of the Jagiellons and Vasas in connection with the Habsburgs. The
propaganda symbol of the pantheon was directed at the Lithuanian magnates who
competed with the monarch and the Habsburgs who had earlier competed with Sigis-
mund for the Polish throne. The reconciliation between Sigismund and the Habsburgs
was credited to the efforts of Pope Sixtus V and his envoy Inpolito Aldobrandini,
the later Pope Clement VIII. This event was depicted in the sculpture scenes and
inscriptions on the papal tombs in the two Roman chapels. The erection of the three
Vasa’s pantheons in Cracow and Vilnius repeated the Habsburgs’ dynastic program-
me. Their mausoleums were placed in various capitals of the monarchy.
Translated by Jan Kłos