Nagrobek biskupa Jana Konarskiego w Katedrze na Wawelu

Although recognized as the first Renaissance tomb with an effigy by an Italian artist in Poland, the sepulchral monument of bishop Jan Konarski (d. 1525) has not been analyzed adequately. Setting the episcopal foundation against its spatial and functional context in the royal cathedral and Wawel castle in Cracow, the author studies Konarski’s cultural interests and patronage on the basis of the few available primary sources and all the other relevant literary and visual works. After the departure of Veit Stoss, in the early 16th century the local artisans, especially goldsmiths and figural artists, continued to operate in late Gothic idiom, but at the same time a few Italian builders, stonecutters, sculptors and decorators worked for King Sigismund I at Wawel. They introduced novel classical architecture and ornamentation both to the monarch’s residence and funerary chapel at the cathedral. Apparently encouraged by their success and helped by his nephew Jan educated in Bologna, c 1519 the affluent bishop employed the same Italian workshop in the tiny medieval chapel allotted to him. The shortage of space, if not funds, severely reduced the size and shape of the monument, even if Konarski endowed the chapel with his own portrait, an altarpiece by a German painter, an epitaph to his nephew, ‘beautiful’ stalls and a wardrobe with liturgical costly clothes and vessels. He ensured regular prayers were to be said for the benefit of his soul. The book aims to assess the tomb’s innovative nature by a systematic study of its unique design, architectural structure, typical Italian ornamentation all’antica and an archaic concept of the flattened stocky figure, which was peculiar to certain patrons and artists in Rome c 1500. The author identifies for the first time the very few Italian pulpit tombs with inscriptions placed separately, as that of antipope Alexander V in Bologna, as possible models for the Cracow monument. The latter was enriched with a pair of Italianate scrolls, a distant echo of those in the Vatican tomb of pope Sixtus IV. In this ingenious way a prestigious and successful model was created for other Polish sepulchral monuments, discussed in the book. The bishop’s countenance is analyzed to show that it was conceived as a strongly idealized portrait aimed at immortalizing the dignity of the deceased, as emphasized in Konarski’s contemporary vita. The same conclusion applies to his clothes and episcopal insignia. The lack of the tomb inscription probably results from its separate location and subsequent loss. Two other inscriptions once placed in the chapel and known from literature show that the bishop was compared to a character from Terence’s comedy and other ancient sources. They were chosen in order to emphasize his sublime artistic taste, affluence, and moral qualities. His decision to have The Dormition of the Virgin painted as the principal subject in the chapel’s altarpiece shows that, like other contemporary patrons at the Wawel cathedral, he expressed his strong desire that soon after his death he would experience the beatific vision of God. Ultimately it was piety combined with the sense of rivalry with other dignitaries that drove Konarski to embark on this successful artistic enterprise.