Zakrystia kaplicy biskupa Piotra Tomickiego przy katedrze krakowskiej w świetle ostatnich badań

Abstract

THE SACRISTY AT BISHOP PIOTR TOMICKI CHAPEL AT THE KRAKÓW CATHEDRAL IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT RESEARCH

In the years 2007–2008 the sacristy at Bishop Piotr Tomicki Chapel at the Kraków Cathedral underwent conservation. The origins of the chapel are linked with the conversion of the medieval Chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury into a Renaissance mausoleum for the said Bishop which was carried out by Bartolomeo Berecci in the years 1526–1530. The research that accompanied the conservation resulted in discovering a number of elements of interest and of value in terms of their historical and artistic qualities. Notably some of the discoveries pertain not only to the sacristy but also to the older structures that neighbour on it, having their walls embedded in the walls of the conserved premises. Among the finds of key significance is partial exposure and examination of fragments of the elevation of the eastern apse of the 14th-century Grot Chapel, the southern wall of the Chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury and fragments of the northern stone flanking wall of the Gothic gateway. The occurrence of a hitherto unknown room located underneath the sacristy was a novelty in the exploration of the site. Inaccessibility of the room made its detailed inspection impossible, restricting the research to preliminary examination with the use of a thermal imaging camera. An examination of the stratigraphic layers and their distribution against one another in the walls of the sacristy resulted in fragmentary conclusions as to the original size of the architectural elements of the said structures under examination as well as their consequent modifications. The conclusions translated directly into doubts as to the history of the sacristy itself (and especially its origins) and its initial structure. The sacristy could have originated earlier than assumed, while its original height could have been smaller that the present one. Further analyses are necessary to arrive at a definitive conclusion as to the above and they cannot be embarked on without exploring the room under the sacristy in the future. An important value of the research and conservation works lies in discovering Renaissance murals connected to the foundation of the chapel by Bishop Tomicki. The paintings consist of an extensive heraldic composition with the founder’s emblem which stretches across the vault of the sacristy and an illusionistic painting on the entrance surround in the form of a portal with architectural and plantlike motifs. The decorations are now the only evidence of the painted decor of the walls introduced in the chapel and the sacristy in the 1530s. Aside from that, fragments of paintings from later years have also been discovered, although the dates of their origins are difficult to establish with precision. The paintings assumed the form of schematic rustications. The wall decorations introduced by Erazm Fabijański in 1881 and found in the sacristy before the conservation corresponded directly to the rustications.