Paweł Pencakowski

Gothic Paintings of the Chapel in the Tower of the Church of the Miechovits in Miechów

In 2005, fragments of 15th century paintings were discovered in the late Gothic chapel situated in the tower (built in 1311) of the church, which formerly belonged to the Canons Regular of the Most Holy Sepulchre in Miechów, near Cracow. As we know from the monastery chronicle, the chapel was consecrated in 1408. The paintings, only parts of which are intact, consist of spectacular, figural, ornamental, heraldic and architectural fragments. Costly pigments were used in a manner that testifies to the excellence of the group of painters. In the corridor leading to the tower, a refined woman was portrayed in the stalls. She was painted against a background and was probably one of many female figures portrayed there. The part described above is the only surviving fragment of the lower section of the décor. Above the female figure, one can see plant meanders, and among them on the north and east walls there are angels playing musicals instruments. On one of the keystones the coat of arms of the Bróg (Haystack) family can be seen. The ornamentation consists of heavily stylised acanthus meanders and fleshy leaves that are set against a contrasting background. There are also geometrical ornaments. The décor of the tower is clearly related to Bohemian painting of the last quarter of the 14th century and of the first decade of the 15th century, including paintings by the artistic milieu of the Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece. The form of the décor was also influenced by travelling journeymen artisans, as well as by imported works of art, including illustrated Prague manuscripts, which appeared in the capital of Poland at that time. It is impossible to reconstruct the iconographic programme of the décor of the tower. The extant representations can be interpreted as the portrayal of a saint or an allegory or virtue, and the portrayal of the Concert of Angels constantly worshipping God. The Bróg coat of arms, which may have belonged to the Bishop of Cracow at that time Piotr Wysz, may indicate that the prelate was a patron of the artwork. The décor was complemented with representations in the lower section, no longer extant, and with the tower's stained-glass window and retable on the altar plate. It was probably here that representations of the Saints Lazarus, Mary Magdalene and Martha, to whom the chapel was dedicated, were placed.

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