Pałac Pod Krzysztofory – stan badań, charakterystyka źródeł, postulaty badawcze

Abstract

KRZYSZTOFORY PALACE – STATE OF RESEARCH, DESCRIPTION OF SOURCES, ACADEMIC POSTULATES

Research on the history of the palace and its inhabitants  has a long tradition, starting with the brief notes appearing in  the works of Ludwik Łepkowski (1847), Ambroży Grabowski  (1852) and Józef Wawel-Louis (1890), through the mentions  of local legends (Klemens Bąkowski, 1898), the studies on  the families who lived here, i.e. the Korycińskis (Konstanty  Hoszowski, 1862), the Morsztyns (Stanisław Krzyżanowski,  1898), the Cyruses (Adam Chmiel, 1898), the De Stezis (Jan  Ptaśnik, 1913), through the first monograph on the building’s  architecture (Franciszek Klein, 1914) written in protest  against the plan to demolish this valuable monument.  The findings of the latter author focusing on the activities of  Adam Kazanowski in the 1640s were further elaborated upon  by Julian Pagaczewski who analysed the later stucco decorations  in the context of Baldassare Fontana’s works (1938).  A piece of important source material documenting the division  of the estate among the heirs made in 1639 was published  by Stanisław Tomkowicz (1922). A significant contribution  was made by Jerzy Kossowski who in his unpublished  paper (1953) defined the two major phases of the palace’s development,  relating the first phase with Kazanowski, and the  second phase (1862–1864) with Wawrzyniec Jan Wodzicki  and architect Giacomo Solari. These findings were by and  large sustained by Adam Miłobędzki in his synthetic work  on 17th-century Polish architecture (1980); Miłobędzki associated  Kazanowski’s activity with the gallery and the loggia  in the inner courtyard, and pointed to the affinity of these  architectural elements with the works of Constantino Tencalla.  A monograph by Mariusz Karpowicz (1992) has been  essential for the more recent studies on Fontana; papers by  Henryk Świątek (1984) and Maria Zientara (1986) discuss  the artist’s contribution to the creation of the palace’s decor.  Celina Bąk-Koczarska’s study (1999) was a critical step forward  in the research on the past owners and residents of Krzysztofory  Palace; also noteworthy are the entries on Adam  Kazanowski and Jacek Kluszewski included in Polski słownik  biograficzny [The Polish bibliographic dictionary]; the latter  man’s services for the early development of theatre in Kraków  were presented by Kazimierz Nowacki (1991).  Among the notable contributions to the research on the  oldest history of building development in this settlement  plot (burgher houses) we should mention analyses of urban  development by Władysław Grabski (1960–1970) and  Józef Jamroz (1968), as well as unpublished studies in this field written by Bogdana Książek and Jolanta Laskowicka  (1976), and by Stanisław Sławiński and Joanna Hiżycka  (1994); the latter study enabled us to isolate the oldest  stone building (erected at the turn of the 13th and the 14th  century) as a stone structure with a square floor plan, located  at the back of the settlement plot. An analysis of the  significant written sources dated 1556 and 1570 was carried  out by Bożena Wyrozumska (1989).  Architectural research carried out by Waldemar Niewalda  and Aleksander Filipowicz (1980) and by Marek Łukacz  (2000) resulted in the delineation of the stratigraphy of mediaeval  basement walls.  In their unpublished study (2001), Waldemar Komorowski  and Bogusław Krasnowolski made an attempt to  synthesize and elaborate on the abovementioned research  by defining the hypothetical phases of the building’s architectural  development through the ages, from the mediaeval  burgher houses, through the baroque palace, through the  alterations introduced in the 19th and the 20th centuries.  A more precise delineation of the older phases of the  structure’s development was presented in the architectural  research conducted by Łukasz Holcer and Stanisław Cechosz  (2007) in connection with the adaptation of the basements  by the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków and the  exposition of the perron. We should also note the progress in  Komorowski’s research on the architecture of Kraków burgher  houses and urban mansions (2003, 2007), and Genowefa  Zań-Ograbek’s findings concerning the emblem of Krzysztofory  Palace (a paper included in the present volume).  Essential written sources include surveying books, Acta  consularia, and the documents of Wawrzyniec Jan Wodzicki  and Maria Anna Wodzicka, née Gratt deposited at the Ossolineum  Library in Wrocław, while Dominik Pucek’s plan  of the Market Square (1787) and the design for the palace’s  adaptation (1796) are the earliest planning sources. Iconographic  material was studied by the team of the Studio of  the Iconography of Kraków (a department of the National  Museum in Kraków) headed by Jerzy Banach (1998).  As an outstanding architectural monument, Krzysztofory  Palace requires a monograph study that would discuss  its architectural transformations in the light of the history  of the people who ordered and implemented them.