Memoria króla Jana Olbrachta w katedrze na Wawelu
The Memoria of King Jan Olbracht in the Wawel Cathedral

Author(s): Barbara Świadek
Subject(s): Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: memoria; Jan Olbracht; Jan Olbracht’s Chapel; the Wawel Cathedral; the cathedral inventory; cultural memory; commemoration
Summary/Abstract: The article attempts to describe Jan Olbracht’s memoria in the Wawel Cathedral in the context of late medieval or early modern cultural memory. After the death of the monarch, his mother, Elżbieta Rakuszanka, decided to erect the tomb of her son in a separate chapel. At her command, the chapel of bishop Jan Grot, founded before 1344 and dedicated to John Evangelist and Saint Martha, was chosen; in its western part the tomb of the direct successor of Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk was erected. The author of the article tries to reconstruct not only the architecture and art decoration of the new space, but also its portable equipment. Most objects commissioned by the Jagiellonians were lost, but the cathedral inventory from 1563 confirms that Olbracht’s memoria did not consist of accidental artefacts. Apart from their high artistic value, most objects referred to the subject of passion, which made them ideal for the chapel and the pietas Jagiellonica policy.

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