Najstarsze fotografie nagrobka Kazimierza Wielkiego
The Oldest Photographs of Casimir III the Great’s Tomb

Author(s): Anna Bednarek
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: Wawel; Casimir III the Great’ s Tomb; history of photography; works of art photography; Walery Rzewuski; Ignacy Krieger; Andreas Groll
Summary/Abstract: Casimir III the Great’s tomb in the Wawel Cathedral has very early and detailed photographic records, only partly published. It confirms the interest in the tomb in the19th century as the object not only seen and documented as a work of art, but also as a symbolic object evoking the figure of the king and Polish history. The first photographs of the tomb were taken in the 60s of the 19th century, before it was renovated in 1869, by local photographers (Walery Rzewuski, Ignacy Krieger) and by Andreas Groll from Vienna. During the renovation, Krieger took photographs of two slabs of the tomb, which made it possible to document their state from before the conservation. When the remains of the king were discovered in the sarcophagus, Rzewuski photographed the insignia and other found objects. Thanks to Józef Łepkowski’s efforts, he took another three photographs of the king’s remains in the coffin and the sarcophagus containing it. After the renovation was finished, Krieger and the photographers from the French studio of J. Lachenal, L. Favre et Cie documented the whole monument.

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