Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 62 (1984): Our Past

Articles

The 19th-century tombstone inscriptions from the church of St. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Krakow

  • Romana Piech
  • Zenon Piech
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.1984.62.163-186  [Google Scholar]
Published: 1984-12-30

Abstract

St. Mary's Church in Krakow has a rich collection of 150 epitaphs placed on tombstones and epitaph slabs. It is the largest collection of this type in Krakow. The objects filling the interior of the church are one of the most important factors shaping its spiritual atmosphere. Inscriptions from the 19th century were created in different circumstances than those from earlier periods. The liquidation of the cemetery at St. Mary's Church at the beginning of the 19th century and the transfer of burials to the Rakowicki cemetery put an end to the tradition of burying the dead directly in the church or near it, which had existed since the early Middle Ages. Nevertheless, St. Mary's Church, like other temples, continued to serve as a place of worship for the dead. One of the acts of worship was placing plaques in the church commemorating the dead. Since expensive tombstones were erected in cemeteries, only modest epitaphs with the name and surname of the deceased were funded in the church. Their aim was to keep the name of the deceased in the memory of the faithful and to assure them of prayers. Analysis of this collection indicates that its value is more historical than artistic, as only a few objects exceed the average artistic level of typical 19th-century Krakow stone sculptures. Most of them are works by famous artists, including C. Godebski, J. N. Galia, P. Weloński, S. R. Lewandowski, M. Guyski and others. Most of the objects in the collection were not arranged inside the church, only 33 plaques are located outside the temple. The most frequently chosen places for epitaphs and tombstones are three chapels: Our Lady of Częstochowa, St. Lawrence and the Transfiguration of the Lord, where almost one third of the collection is located. The epitaphs presented in the article are devoted mainly to representatives of the Krakow bourgeoisie and a large group of intelligentsia of bourgeois origin. Among the inscriptions dedicated to representatives of the nobility and clergy, we find a number of objects relating to people associated with the life of Krakow in the 19th century. Therefore, the inscriptions in St. Mary's Church are a valuable cultural monument of 19th-century Krakow.

References

  1. Bieniarzówna J., Małecki J. M., Dzieje Krakowa, t. 3, Kraków 1979. [Google Scholar]
  2. Grodziska-Ożóg K., Cmentarz Rakowicki, Kraków 1983. [Google Scholar]
  3. Mączyński F., Kościół Najśw. Panny Marii w Krakowie, Kraków 1938. [Google Scholar]

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.