From Rome to Cracow: the architectural setting of the relics of saint Stanislaus in the XIV century (original) (raw)

From Rome to Cracow: the architectural setting of the relics of saint Stanislaus in the XIV century* 1. Exposition of the relics of saint Stanislaus in Cracow cathedral Cracow cathedral, in its present shape built between 1320 and 1364, was on many levels a focal point of the late medieval kingdom of Poland. 1 Situated next to the royal residence, from 1320 it served as a place of coronations and the royal burial site. Moreover, the cathedral houses the relics of saint Stanislaus, one of the Polish national saints, as well as the early Christian martyr saint Florian; the latter, however, in that time no longer played a truly significant role in the local liturgy. An altar containing the relics of both saints, covered with a XVII century canopy, is situated at the crossing of the nave and the transept (figs. I-1). Despite the reconstruction of its setting, the shrine was not moved and is still located in the same place as in the late middle ages. The whole arrangement is particularly striking because of the characteristic spatial layout of the church. The position of the shrine marks the very centre of the cathedral, as its nave, having only three bays, is very short, even shorter than the choir, which makes the plan of the whole church almost central. The shrine is also situated at the crossing of the two main functional and optical axes of the church. It faces both the western, and now main, entrance in the west wall of the nave and the south portal in the transept, which used to serve the clergy as well as king and court. Such an exposition of the relics seems to have no parallels in Late Medieval architecture. Thus, it is crucial to determine whether such a location of the shrine was the creation of the XIV century founders and whether it was intended from the very beginning of the works in 1320.