O rzymskim programie apsydy „bazyliki królewskiej” św. św. Piotra i Pawła w Krakowie .......... 675

ON THE ROMAN PROGRAMME OF THE APSE OF THE ‘ROYAL BASILICA’ OF STS. PETER AND PAUL IN CRACOW

The Jesuit church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Cracow owed its distinguished position among the churches of the Society of Jesus not only to its location in the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, but also to its royal patronage. It was referred to as the ‘royal basilica’, as confirmed by numerous sources from the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1595 King Sigismund III Vasa assumed responsibility for the church’s foundation from Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł. After the completion of the building’s construction, the king continued to finance its interior decoration. Following his death, his son Władysław IV took over the patronage of the church.
The ‘Roman character’ of the Cracow church was clearly recognised by contemporaries; for example, Jan Gzowski described it as ‘our Vatican.’ The connections with Rome are evident on many levels, extending beyond the spatial layout and stylistic solutions derived from the church of Il Gesù. A novelty in Cracow was the monumental semicircular apse, a feature likely inspired by ancient Roman basilicas. The conch of the apse vault is filled with stucco decoration whose forms and themes evoke the Eternal City. The figural bas-relief scenes resemble the gilded stucco reliefs on the vault and walls of the choir of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo.
It is particularly important to emphasise the ‘Roman’ nature of the Cracow reliefs’ iconography, expressed through the figures of Saints Peter and Paul, who had been regarded as patrons of Rome since early Christianity. Both apostles appeared frequently in apse mosaics of Roman churches, most notably in the Constantinian basilica at the Vatican. The small semicircular field at the top of the apse in the Jesuit church, decorated with a shell motif filled with wavy rays, should be interpreted as an opening through which divine light enters - a solution most likely modelled on mosaics from Roman basilicas.
A key element of the apse’s iconographic program is the scene depicting Saints Peter and Paul approaching one another and extending their hands in a gesture of greeting, positioned between representations of their martyrdoms. This scene illustrates their meeting in Rome as they were led to execution. According to tradition, the place of their farewell was located along the Via Ostiense, where in 1568 the Arciconfraternita della SS. Trinità dei Pellegrini e Convalescenti erected the Cappella della Separazione. The theme of the relief should therefore be interpreted as an affirmation of the apostolic origins of the Roman Church and as a critique of Protestant anti-Roman – i.e. anti-Catholic – positions.