DOI article:
Fabiański, Marcin: Wawelskie loggie Franciszka Florentczyka
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52665#0095
FRANCESCO FIORENTINO’S WAWEL LOGGIAS
S u m m a r y
Written archival sources confirm that in 1510 1511, columned
loggias were added to the recently built west wing, and possibly the
western end of the north wing, of the medieval royal castle in Cracow.
In March 1518, the colonnaded galleries with coffered ceilings
adomed with gilded rosettes were completed in both wings. It can be
assumed that the construction work itself was completed in 1516. The
building works were led by “Franciscus Italus architectus insignis,”
who died on October 16, 1516. Bartolommeo Berrecci’s colonnaded
galleries, erected in 1532-1535 on the two remaining wings, were
strictly modeled on the earlier ones. The galleries Berrecci built had
already been generally projected in 1518.
When, in the 19th century, the former residence of the kings of
Poland was converted to barracks for the Austro-Hungarian army, the
loggias were bricked up to prevent them from collapsing. After the
Polish people repurchased the castle from the Austrian govemment
in 1905, and the decision to restore it to its royal glory was madę, the
columns were exposed and most of the badly damaged stonework
was replaced. The original fragments were stored in the lapidarium,
but not fully documented. Many fragments were smashed by the
Germans during World War II as part of the Nazi strategy to destroy
Polish culture and leaming, the most egregious example of which was
the Sonderaktion Krakau.
Thanks to advances in scanning technology, we have been able
to retrieve even the finest details from pre-1910 glass photography
plates and large-scale prints madę before the replacement of
damaged stonework began. This has enabled us to isolate particularly
interesting elements.
The design of the Wawel’s Arcaded Courtyard is based on the
courtyards of Italian Renaissance palaces inspired by the Palazzo
Medici Riccardi and by Florentine cloisters. It was generally
acknowledged that the courtyards of Italian palazzi referenced
ancient forms known from literaturę and the remains of various
ancient buildings. In the architecture of the Florentine Quattrocento
there are also examples of colonnades supporting entablatures via
imposts as well as, around 1500, examples of extremely slender
double columns, anticipating the unique traits of the Wawel loggias.
Freely interpreted łonie capitals on the alkantica columns of the
ground floor neighbor Doric corbels whose forms recall the capitals
of Leon Battista Alberti’s facades. In his treatise on architecture, On
the Art of Building in Ten Books, Alberti advised an independent
interpretation of the classical orders. Fairly numerous 15th-century
Florentine examples, particularly from the circle of Michelozzo
and Giuliano da Sangallo, confirm the practical application of these
recommendations. An analysis of the less well preserved architectural
details on both upper stories yields similar results. Every detail can be
traced back to Florentine architecture, but the whole was composed
and assembled individually, in linę with AlbertPs advice “to present
new things ... and see if we can achieve equal or greater glory” instead
of copying the works of the masters. While they were still under
construction, the Wawel galleries were already heralded as works of
architecture eąualing the splendor of ancient Romę, in their all’antica
grandeur and form. Although in the loggias of the two remaining
wings, added by Bartolommeo Berrecci, the repertoire of ornament
on the capitals was enlarged, the whole appears to be the work of one
architect. It is nearly certain that the strict continuation of Fiorentino’s
classicizing work was the wish of the patron, Sigismund I the Old.
Indirect proof of this State of affairs comes in the form of a contract
between the sculptor G. M. Mosca and Sigismund’s wife Bona Sforza,
which stipulates that the artist must model his work faithfully on the
architecture of a tomb by Berrecci.
S u m m a r y
Written archival sources confirm that in 1510 1511, columned
loggias were added to the recently built west wing, and possibly the
western end of the north wing, of the medieval royal castle in Cracow.
In March 1518, the colonnaded galleries with coffered ceilings
adomed with gilded rosettes were completed in both wings. It can be
assumed that the construction work itself was completed in 1516. The
building works were led by “Franciscus Italus architectus insignis,”
who died on October 16, 1516. Bartolommeo Berrecci’s colonnaded
galleries, erected in 1532-1535 on the two remaining wings, were
strictly modeled on the earlier ones. The galleries Berrecci built had
already been generally projected in 1518.
When, in the 19th century, the former residence of the kings of
Poland was converted to barracks for the Austro-Hungarian army, the
loggias were bricked up to prevent them from collapsing. After the
Polish people repurchased the castle from the Austrian govemment
in 1905, and the decision to restore it to its royal glory was madę, the
columns were exposed and most of the badly damaged stonework
was replaced. The original fragments were stored in the lapidarium,
but not fully documented. Many fragments were smashed by the
Germans during World War II as part of the Nazi strategy to destroy
Polish culture and leaming, the most egregious example of which was
the Sonderaktion Krakau.
Thanks to advances in scanning technology, we have been able
to retrieve even the finest details from pre-1910 glass photography
plates and large-scale prints madę before the replacement of
damaged stonework began. This has enabled us to isolate particularly
interesting elements.
The design of the Wawel’s Arcaded Courtyard is based on the
courtyards of Italian Renaissance palaces inspired by the Palazzo
Medici Riccardi and by Florentine cloisters. It was generally
acknowledged that the courtyards of Italian palazzi referenced
ancient forms known from literaturę and the remains of various
ancient buildings. In the architecture of the Florentine Quattrocento
there are also examples of colonnades supporting entablatures via
imposts as well as, around 1500, examples of extremely slender
double columns, anticipating the unique traits of the Wawel loggias.
Freely interpreted łonie capitals on the alkantica columns of the
ground floor neighbor Doric corbels whose forms recall the capitals
of Leon Battista Alberti’s facades. In his treatise on architecture, On
the Art of Building in Ten Books, Alberti advised an independent
interpretation of the classical orders. Fairly numerous 15th-century
Florentine examples, particularly from the circle of Michelozzo
and Giuliano da Sangallo, confirm the practical application of these
recommendations. An analysis of the less well preserved architectural
details on both upper stories yields similar results. Every detail can be
traced back to Florentine architecture, but the whole was composed
and assembled individually, in linę with AlbertPs advice “to present
new things ... and see if we can achieve equal or greater glory” instead
of copying the works of the masters. While they were still under
construction, the Wawel galleries were already heralded as works of
architecture eąualing the splendor of ancient Romę, in their all’antica
grandeur and form. Although in the loggias of the two remaining
wings, added by Bartolommeo Berrecci, the repertoire of ornament
on the capitals was enlarged, the whole appears to be the work of one
architect. It is nearly certain that the strict continuation of Fiorentino’s
classicizing work was the wish of the patron, Sigismund I the Old.
Indirect proof of this State of affairs comes in the form of a contract
between the sculptor G. M. Mosca and Sigismund’s wife Bona Sforza,
which stipulates that the artist must model his work faithfully on the
architecture of a tomb by Berrecci.