DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0020
who temporarily occupied Cracow in 1795, it was taken to Berlin. During the Napoleonic Wars it
was melted down and coined, to help replenish the empty Prussian treasury (and incidentally to distroy
a symbol of detested Poland). Its appearance, however, can be reproduced on the basis of inventory de-
scriptions, drawings and paintings. It consisted of nine plates, each with a finely modelled heraldic lily
and studded with precious stones and pearls. It may be assumed that originally, in the 14th century, it was
a circlet crown, somewhat more modest than it looks in 18th century pictures. It was repeatedly altered
over the centuries to fit the heads of consecutive sovereigns, and perhaps also to suit the taste of the given
period. On his portrait in coronation robes painted by K. J. Werner, Stanislaus Augustus wears a hooped
crown, topped by an orb with a sovereignty cross. At that time it was set with 117 large stones — rubies,
emeralds and sapphires — 280 smaller stones and 90 pearls.
In 1869, five hundred years after his death, the tomb of Casimir the Great was opened for the purpose
of carrying out essential repairs. The king's coffin contained objects which had adorned his body during
the funeral ceremonies in 1 370. After faithful copies, drawings and photographs of these objects had been
made they were transferred to a new coffin with the king's mortal remains. Among them was a crown of
gilded copper, with five lilies studded with imitation precious stones, specially made for the funeral cere-
mony, a gilded silver orb, smooth and hollow, with a small cross at the top, a pair of gilded copper spurs
with straps, each rowel having twenty-four pricks, a gold ring set with a large flat amethyst, ten hollow
silver bosses, which served as buttons on the king's robe and silk fabric with an ornamental design.
By a lucky chance, the treasury of Wawel Cathedral boasts another crown used by Casimir the Great.
This is a crown worn on the helmet in battle. The crown, complete with helmet, was dug up in 191 o in
the grounds of the Benedictine nunnery in Sandomierz. The 14th century Italian helmet has tubular
attachments which served to fix a coif of mail (nonexistent) and originally possessed a nosepiece. The
crown, made of bronze with a silver admixture, consists of four plates; each plate constitutes a quarter of
the headband, and all in the upper part form an Angevin lily. The crown is studded in imitation precious
stones; the pins of hinges joining the plates together end with small lily designs. Two small openings to
be seen in the lower part of each plate served to fix the crown on the helmet.
Unquestionably, the insignia found in the tomb, at any rate most of them, as well as the Sandomierz
crown, were the work of Cracow goldsmiths in court employ.
When discussing the so-called Hungarian crowns dating back to the 1 3th century, we have mentioned
the herma of St. Sigismund. This herma, offered by Casimir the Great to Plock Cathedral, served as
a reliquary in which the saint's relics were preserved. In all probability the bust was ordered in Aachen;
the goldsmith with whom the order was placed gave the saint the features of the king himself, possibly
from a likeness forwarded to him for that purpose. Whatever the case, Polish inspiration is evident in
this work. It should be noted that Casimir the Great also ordered many objects from local goldsmiths.
As the country's prosperity grew, so the number of goldsmiths increased. A gold- and silversmith's guild
was formed in c. 1370 in Cracow and a little later in Poznah. The herma of St. Magdalena, offered
by King Casimir to the parish church in Stopnica, is a local product. The herma portrays the saint with
severe clear-cut features, wearing a fashionable contemporary head-dress. The lower rim of the reliquary
bears a Gothic inscription and a shield with the Polish Eagle. A number of chalices presented by King
Casimir to different churches is attributed to local goldsmiths. The chalice in the former monastery church
in Trzemeszno, dated 1 3 51, has enamelled medallions with heads of saints on its stem and spiral arrange-
ments of leaves and quatrefoils on the base. Ten years later, King Casimir presented a chalice decorated
in figures and armorial bearings cast in bas-relief to the parish church in Stopnica, and in 1363 a chalice
with a beautifully executed ornamental design of eagles and blue enamelled heraldic lilies to the collegiate
church in Kalisz.
The door of Wawel Cathedral, made during the reign of Casimir the Great, is evidence of the masterly
skill of Cracow blacksmiths. Covered with black wrought-iron plate, it is ornamented with the royal
initial K (for Ka^mien^. Polish for Casimir) surmounted by a crown which recurs in each field formed
by criss-crossing iron strips. The Gothic custom of using initials as an ornamental motif came to Poland
from France, via Bohemia and Hungary. The simple design of the door of Wawel Cathedral influenced
other similar wrought iron work, for example the door of the Moskorzewo church executed in 1380, and
also church doors made in the 16th, 17th and even 18th centuries. Spaces between criss-crossing strips
were filled with inscriptions, rosettes and heraldic devices.
Throughout the 1 5 th and 16th centuries, under the rule of the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland, in union with
was melted down and coined, to help replenish the empty Prussian treasury (and incidentally to distroy
a symbol of detested Poland). Its appearance, however, can be reproduced on the basis of inventory de-
scriptions, drawings and paintings. It consisted of nine plates, each with a finely modelled heraldic lily
and studded with precious stones and pearls. It may be assumed that originally, in the 14th century, it was
a circlet crown, somewhat more modest than it looks in 18th century pictures. It was repeatedly altered
over the centuries to fit the heads of consecutive sovereigns, and perhaps also to suit the taste of the given
period. On his portrait in coronation robes painted by K. J. Werner, Stanislaus Augustus wears a hooped
crown, topped by an orb with a sovereignty cross. At that time it was set with 117 large stones — rubies,
emeralds and sapphires — 280 smaller stones and 90 pearls.
In 1869, five hundred years after his death, the tomb of Casimir the Great was opened for the purpose
of carrying out essential repairs. The king's coffin contained objects which had adorned his body during
the funeral ceremonies in 1 370. After faithful copies, drawings and photographs of these objects had been
made they were transferred to a new coffin with the king's mortal remains. Among them was a crown of
gilded copper, with five lilies studded with imitation precious stones, specially made for the funeral cere-
mony, a gilded silver orb, smooth and hollow, with a small cross at the top, a pair of gilded copper spurs
with straps, each rowel having twenty-four pricks, a gold ring set with a large flat amethyst, ten hollow
silver bosses, which served as buttons on the king's robe and silk fabric with an ornamental design.
By a lucky chance, the treasury of Wawel Cathedral boasts another crown used by Casimir the Great.
This is a crown worn on the helmet in battle. The crown, complete with helmet, was dug up in 191 o in
the grounds of the Benedictine nunnery in Sandomierz. The 14th century Italian helmet has tubular
attachments which served to fix a coif of mail (nonexistent) and originally possessed a nosepiece. The
crown, made of bronze with a silver admixture, consists of four plates; each plate constitutes a quarter of
the headband, and all in the upper part form an Angevin lily. The crown is studded in imitation precious
stones; the pins of hinges joining the plates together end with small lily designs. Two small openings to
be seen in the lower part of each plate served to fix the crown on the helmet.
Unquestionably, the insignia found in the tomb, at any rate most of them, as well as the Sandomierz
crown, were the work of Cracow goldsmiths in court employ.
When discussing the so-called Hungarian crowns dating back to the 1 3th century, we have mentioned
the herma of St. Sigismund. This herma, offered by Casimir the Great to Plock Cathedral, served as
a reliquary in which the saint's relics were preserved. In all probability the bust was ordered in Aachen;
the goldsmith with whom the order was placed gave the saint the features of the king himself, possibly
from a likeness forwarded to him for that purpose. Whatever the case, Polish inspiration is evident in
this work. It should be noted that Casimir the Great also ordered many objects from local goldsmiths.
As the country's prosperity grew, so the number of goldsmiths increased. A gold- and silversmith's guild
was formed in c. 1370 in Cracow and a little later in Poznah. The herma of St. Magdalena, offered
by King Casimir to the parish church in Stopnica, is a local product. The herma portrays the saint with
severe clear-cut features, wearing a fashionable contemporary head-dress. The lower rim of the reliquary
bears a Gothic inscription and a shield with the Polish Eagle. A number of chalices presented by King
Casimir to different churches is attributed to local goldsmiths. The chalice in the former monastery church
in Trzemeszno, dated 1 3 51, has enamelled medallions with heads of saints on its stem and spiral arrange-
ments of leaves and quatrefoils on the base. Ten years later, King Casimir presented a chalice decorated
in figures and armorial bearings cast in bas-relief to the parish church in Stopnica, and in 1363 a chalice
with a beautifully executed ornamental design of eagles and blue enamelled heraldic lilies to the collegiate
church in Kalisz.
The door of Wawel Cathedral, made during the reign of Casimir the Great, is evidence of the masterly
skill of Cracow blacksmiths. Covered with black wrought-iron plate, it is ornamented with the royal
initial K (for Ka^mien^. Polish for Casimir) surmounted by a crown which recurs in each field formed
by criss-crossing iron strips. The Gothic custom of using initials as an ornamental motif came to Poland
from France, via Bohemia and Hungary. The simple design of the door of Wawel Cathedral influenced
other similar wrought iron work, for example the door of the Moskorzewo church executed in 1380, and
also church doors made in the 16th, 17th and even 18th centuries. Spaces between criss-crossing strips
were filled with inscriptions, rosettes and heraldic devices.
Throughout the 1 5 th and 16th centuries, under the rule of the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland, in union with