It was an innovative work on the European scale in the 17th century when it comes to the form and substance, and its concept of the column-type monument derived from the ancient Rome. The monument was erected as a result of collaboration of outstanding artists and was commissioned by kind Władysław IV Vasa to commemorate his father and glorify the Vasa dynasty. This early Baroque work of art is distinctive for the simplicity of forms, clarity of symbols and high-class artistry.

History

The monument was placed in 1644 on a small square cleared of other buildings, at the city walls close to the Krakowska Gate, at the intersection of significant routes. The benefactor of the work of art and co-creator of its ideological programme was king Władysław IV. Augustyn Locci is recognised as an author of the artistic and urban-planning concept of the column, while Costante Tencalla as a person responsible for technical work. Clement Molli was a sculptor of a model of the statue, which was cast in bronze by Daniel Tym. The column was supposed to function as an element of the Vasa Forum, aimed at glorifying the dynasty. High artistic level and technical challenges faced by the construction elicited admiration. In various respects, the work stepped out of the tradition of previous royal monuments by offering an image of the ruler with a cross, elevated on a column having ecclesiastical symbolism formerly assigned to Christ, Mother Mary and the saints. The monument was embedded on a three-stepped base made of light sandstone. The plinth of the tall pedestal was also made of sandstone and was faced with black Dębnik limestone at the top. In the body, below the cornice, bronze foundation plaques with gold-plated letters were placed. The column base, four eagles in crowns with garlands crowning its plinth and a Corinthian capital were cast in bronze and gold-plated. The core was made of brown-and-red veined marble of Chęciny (currently, the so-called Sigismund conglomerate), which was extracted around 1607 at the efforts of Sigismund III. The column capital features an impost faced with black Dębnik limestone. The gold-plated statue of the king stood on a brick base clad with red conglomerate and was adorned with volute-shaped corbels. The work was characterised by contrasting Baroque colouring. During subsequent wars the monument avoided being blown up by the Swedes or disassembled upon request of Peter the Great, but it did not avoid being fired at. In 1681, upon initiative of king John III Sobieski, the square around the column was tidied up and surrounded by a balustrade. In 1743 king August III ordered a renovation of the monument, which has been commemorated by installing a plaque on the pedestal. The works were performed by Franciszek Dąbrowski and stonemason from Cracow, Jan Stachowski, as notified by an inscription left on the lead cover of the impost. Numerous cavities were supplemented by materials other than the original ones, damaged elements were reinforced, most probably the stairs were replaced and the monument was surrounded with a tall grillwork that partly obscured the plaques on the pedestal. In the years 1808-1810, when it was established that the statue had tilted, another renovation was carried out by Giuseppe Boretti under the supervision of architects Jakub Kubicki, Hilary Szpilowski and Karol Schutz. Information about the works was placed on plaques on the again upright impost. The statue plinth was replaced with a lower one, without volutes, made of three blocks of black Dębnik limestone. In the years 1818-1821, following the demolition of the Krakowska Gate and buildings in the Front Courtyard, the spatial context of the monument changed. From the moment onwards, it stood and continues to stand on the Zamkowy Square. In place of the grillwork surrounding the pedestal, a fence made of wooden posts linked by chains was installed, which was replaced in 1828 with a stone fence made by Jan Hagen according to the design of Henryk Marconi. That architect was also an author of the municipal waterworks put into operation in 1855 and serving, among others, as water feed for four fountains. One of them was placed around the column plinth and encircled with a cast iron balustrade. In place of the stairs, a square pool was created, to which water splashed from conchas held by zinc statues of tritons authored by August Kiss, located at the corners of the monument pedestal. In 1863, after visual inspection that demonstrated, among others, the loss of gildings, the columns was repaired, as notified by another plaque mounted on the impost. The works under the supervision of the city constructor, Józef Orłowski, were performed by Aleksander Sikorski and Hieronim Zieliński. In the years 1885-1887 the monument and the fountain underwent major renovation under the supervision of the city constructor, Edward Cichocki. Sections made of brick and faced with stone were replaced with granite monoliths. A lot of elements were replaced, faithfully reproducing their shape by means of other materials, which modified the previous colouring of the monument. The new column was made of pink Italian granite, while the pedestal, cornices and the plinth - of grey granite. Bronze elements were cleaned up and endowed with green patina. Foundation plates were cut to previously made openings in stone blocks. In 1930 the fountain was removed and the pedestal was refurbished and surrounded with a step made of red sandstone. During World War II the column survived until the night of 1 September 1944, when it collapsed and fell to pieces under the German gunfire. Bronze elements were ripped out of the pedestal and two plates, eagles with festoons, the crucifix and the king’s sabre disappeared. The king’s statue, damaged but not split into pieces owing to the sand filling, was secured already in March 1945. The reconstruction of the column in the years 1947-1949 was related to the rearrangement of the surroundings of the East-West route being constructed at that time. Its course influenced the decision to move the monument by 6 metres to the north-east and rotate it towards Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. The works were performed according to the design of architect Stanisław Żaryn, who quite faithfully recreated the original shape of the column with the three-stepped base. The construction tasks were managed by Stanisław Hempel and the stonemasonry tasks - Julian Federowicz. Models of sculptures were performed by Józef Gaza, while casting and preservation of bronze elements was handled by the Łopieński brothers company. Four newly-cast eagles with garlands departed from the original version the most, as they were too large and without crowns. The column and supplementations of the pedestal were made of Strzegom granite, while the stairs of syenite. The bronze elements received dark patina. Therefore, the colouring of the monument was reduced to grey and black. The works were commemorated by yet another plaque mounted on the pedestal cornice. In 1976, in order to better exhibit the rebuilt Castle, the Zamkowy Square was lowered and stairs were added to the column, now standing higher above, on the east and north sides. Two steps were added to the base. A year later the monument was subject to conservation works by means of modern techniques. In 1994 the lower part of the column devastated by vandals was renovated, while the renovation of the upper part took place two years later. Faulty concrete filling of the lower part, originating from 1949, was removed from the king’s statue detached from the column and replaced with bronze. In 1999 graffiti was erased from the monument and in 2001 its stairs were repaired simultaneously with the replacement of the square surface.

Description

The Sigismund Column stands in the higher, southern part of the Zamkowy Square, on the axis of Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. The monument consists of a stone column with a base, a Corinthian capital and the crowning statue of king Sigismund III Vasa - all made of bronze. The monument base includes 5 steps narrowing upwards on a quadrilateral floor plan linked with a quadrifoil one. It supports a pedestal consisting of a four-stepped plinth, a tall cuboid shaft on which bronze inscription plaques were placed and stone entablature. The plaques include protuberant Latin inscriptions of a panegyrical nature. The inscriptions placed on the south side notify of the funding of the monument. The north plaque is decorated with a cartouche with a coat of arms of the Republic of the Two Nations from the period of the Vasa dynasty reign, with an order of the golden fleece and a crown in the finial. Below, there is an inscription uncovering the date and surnames of the authors of the king’s statue. The text placed on the west side glorifies the person and deeds of Sigismund III, while the east plaque explains the symbolism of a sword and cross held by the king, referring to his earthly and heavenly glory. Decorative plaques are found on the pedestal entablature. The one seen on the north side commemorates the reconstruction of the column in 1949, while the south one - its renovation during the reign of August III. A stone plinth under the base are obscured by bronze eagles with spread wings, joined by garlands. The granite cylinder of the shaft is crowned by an impost with a pronounced cornice above the capital. Above, there is a stone plinth of the statue with a profiled cornice. The king is presented standing, slightly inclined, in a slight counterpose, with a bent right leg resting on a helmet with ostrich feathers. The ruler’s head is adorned with a full crown terminating in a sphere with a crucifix. The king wears a cuirassier plate armour with an ornamental coronation cope hanging on the shoulders. Its surface is covered with a relief ornamentation as well as 11 historical figures and personifications. The king is girded with a pendent and a decorative chain with an order of the Golden Fleece is hanging on his chest. He is supporting a large crucifix resting on the plinth with his raised left arm. In his right hand, at the level of hips, he is holding a sabre. The king’s face, inclined downwards, was presented in a portrait mode. All elements of the monument include a symbolic substance that can be interpreted on numerous levels. It is a monument of the glory of the king and his virtues, especially his piousness and courage, an image of the ecclesiastical and secular dimension of the royal reign, a symbol of sovereignty of the Polish Crown and the image of the Republic of Poland.

The monument is accessible.

Compiled by Małgorzata Laskowska-Adamowicz, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Regional Branch in Warsaw. 24-10-2017

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