RenEU - Tarnów. Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Tarnów. Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Tarnów. Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tarnowskich Tombstone

Tarnów. Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Barbara z Tęczyńskich Tarnowska Tombstone

In its present form, the Gothic Cathedral in Tarnów is a uniform structure built of brick, with stonework decorating the windows and entrances. It is built on an elongated plan oriented to the east, three-aisled, with an extended chancel enclosed in an apse, and a tower added to the west. Leading into the cathedral are four doors, with one through a Gothic-Renaissance stone portal, modelled on a print by Albrecht Dürer (after 1511), being worthy of the closest attention.

What certainly deserves attention among the abundant Renaissance tomb sculpture decoration of the cathedral is a masterpiece on a European scale, to be found in the southern aisle. This is the memorial to Barbara Tarnowska née Tęczyńska (d. 1521), the first wife of Grand Commander Jan Tarnowski. The tomb was made by an Italian artist who arrived in Kraków from Padua a few years earlier: Giovanni Maria il Mosca, known in Poland as Padovano. It is an example of a tomb based on the aedicula motif, suspended on a wall. It features noble proportions and subtlety of architectural line. The high, square niche contains the tomb with the inscription and the sarcophagus placed on top of it with a complete statue of the deceased lying on it in a sophisticated pose. The memorial (erected after 1536) is made of sandstone with the use of red marble. The figure of the deceased Barbara draws our special attention, as it is believed to be 'the most beautiful Renaissance figural sculpture in Poland' if not 'one of the most beautiful figures of women in Renaissance sculpture anywhere in Europe'.

The southern nave also contains the memorial tomb of Father Marcin Łyczko (d. 1578), probably a work of Wojciech Kuszyc, a local collaborator of Padovano.

The Chancel

The chancel of the Cathedral is embellished by four tomb effigies: works of art of major significance for the cultural history of the Polish Renaissance and mannerism. The oldest of them commemorates Barbara of Rożnów (d. 1517), mother of Jan Tarnowski. The general design is Renaissance, and makes reference to Florentine monuments with a niche in the wall, in which the figure of the deceased reposes. Yet the architectural detail and ornamentation betray a lack of understanding of their origin. The sculpture on the tomb was made of sandstone (around 1520), and its author remains unknown. It is a very rare and precious testimony of the only superficial assimilation of Renaissance models by local artists in Poland.

On the other hand, the fine two-tier monument of the Tarnowskis is extremely impressive. It was built by Giovanni Maria Padovano for the Grand Commander Jan Tarnowski (d. 1561), and reworked after the death of Jan Krzysztof (d. 1567). The architectural parts of the 13-metre-tall and 6.6-metre-wide effigy were made of sandstone. The columns, plaques and primarily the two complete statues of both of the Tarnowskis as well as the sarcophagi are made of red Hungarian marble, while the plates with battle scenes and the cherub heads and lions' paws on which the sarcophagi rest, are made of alabaster. The design and composition of the monument is based on models drawn from the architectural treatises by Sebastiano Serlio. Both tiers contain rectangular niches for the figures of the deceased who are presented in the so-called Sansovinesque poses. The only religious motif is the figure of Resurrected Christ surmounting the composition. The battle scenes illustrate the battles won by the Grand Commander.

The next monument, of Zofia Tarnowska, Princess Ostrogska (d. 1570), wife of the Grand Commander of the Crown, Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, was made in marble to the design of Giovanni Maria Padovano, probably by Wojciech Kuszyc or by an Italian sculptor, Hieronimo Canavesi.

The monument of the Ostrogski family, devoted to Prince Janusz Ostrogski (d. 1620) and his first wife Zuzanna (d. 1596) was made from 1612 to 1620 in black and red marbles and alabaster. It stands 12.9 m high, and 7.9 m wide. The architecture of the monument is Renaissance, yet it is filled with mannerist detail. Authorship is ascribed to Jan Pfister from Wrocław or the Dutch Wilhelm van den Block.

In the 16th century, Tarnów belonged to the Grand Commander of the Crown, Jan Tarnowski, who expanded the castle on Góra św. Marcina into a Renaissance residence surrounded with modern bastion fortifications. Its chambers housed a library, treasury, and a collection of family memorabilia and souvenirs. Visitors to the castle included Jan Kochanowski, Mikołaj Rej, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Marcin Kromer, Giovanni Maria Padovano, and other great humanists of the time. Following the lifestyle popularised in the Renaissance based on the ambition to emphasise fame and achievements and, in particular, to be remembered after one's death, and also to lie in the footsteps of royal and church dignitaries, lords of extensive estates like the Tarnowskis and the later owners of the city, the Princes Ostrogski, they commissioned Italian artists to erect magnificent tombs as a testament to their position and power.