Studia Waweliana (9/10.2000-2001)

WAWEL CEREMONIES IN JANUARY 1649 AND DESIGNS BY GIOYANNI BATTISTA GISLENI

S u m mary

In January 1649 the Wawel cathedral was the venue of State
solemnities fuli of symbolic significance - the funeral of King Ladi-
slas IV (15 January), coronation of his successor, John Casimir (17 Ja-
nuary), and the Mass inaugurating the debates of the Gentry’s Par-
liament (19 January). The celebrations took place in the church
adomed with extremely sumptuous decorations designed by Gio-
vanni Battista Gisleni (1600-1672), a Roman architect and musi-
cian active in Poland at that tinre. The decorations, consisting above
all of an impressive castrum doloris and screen of the high altar,
changing in succession as in a theatre, are known to us from a prin-
ted description (cf. appendix) and also from the architecfis numero-
us sketches and designs today kept in the collection of Sir John So-
ane’s Museum in London (Varii disegni d’architettura, vol. 121;

figs 5-7, 11-19) and in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupfer-
stichkabinett in Dresden (inv. Ca. 67; figs 21-22). The subject of
the present paper is the identification of the process of creating suc-
cessive designs, reconstruction of the decorations eventually reali-
zed. and explanation of the programme concerning their content and
symbolism against the background of similar works of European
art, especially of the Roman Baroąue. In addition, a study was car-
ried out on Gisleni's designs for the reconstruction of the crowning
part of one of the towers of the royal castle, which had bumt during
the ceremonies on 18 January (figs 24-26), and on his designs for
an impressive catafalque of Ladislas IV for the obseąuies in the Je-
suit church in Cracow on 22 January (figs 27-28).