1. Kraków. Wawel Royal Castle2. Kraków. The Royal Archcathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Wenceslaus3. Kraków. Complex of Renaissance mansions in Kanonicza street4. Kraków. Complex of Renaissance mansions in the historical city centre5. Kraków. Villa Decius6. Zielonki. Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary7. Giebultów. Church of St Giles8. Modlnica. Church of St Adalbert and Our Lady of Sorrows9. Suloszowa. Pieskowa Skala Castle10. Ksiaz Wielki. Mirow Castle in Ksiaz Wielki11. Miechów. Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre1213. Sucha Beskidzka. Castle in Sucha Beskidzka14. Kraków - Mogila. Sanctuary of The Holy Cross of The Cistercian Abbey15. Kraków - Branice. Branicki Villa - Lamus16. Niepolomice. Royal Castle in Niepolomice17. Niepolomice. Church of Ten Thousand Martyrs - Memorial Chapel of Branicki Family18. Tarnów. The Town Hall19. Tarnów. Complex of Renaissance townhouses in the Old Town20. Tarnów. Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary21. Wilczyska. Jezów Manor House22. Szymbark. Castellum: Renaissance fortified manor house in Szymbark
Bodzentyn. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr
The expansion of the Renaissance route in Małopolska towards Bodzentyn (today in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Region) is historically justified and makes it possible to include a site that in the Renaissance was both connected to its metropolitan hub - the city of Kraków - and formed part of the artistic developments in the Land of Kraków. This adds a supra-regional dimension to this cultural route.
A new high altar was built for Wawel Cathedral in 1545-1550. Its founder was King Sigismund the Old, who died in 1548 so that the work was concluded in the reign of Sigismund Augustus.
The altar was Italian Renaissance in form: it was built as a huge alla serliana triumphal arch. Its central space contains the scene of the Crucifixion painted on board, and holds figures of the patron saints of the Kraków church in the side niches, while its tympanum is decorated with angels.
The retable was designed by an Italian architect, possibly Giovanni Cini of Siena active in Kraków, and the painting was brought from Venice and is a work of Pietro degli Ingannati, who signed it as Petrus Venetus. The woodwork and sculptures were made to the above-mentioned design by local sculptors, and it was also painted and gilded by Kraków artists.
In 1647, a new lavish baroque altar was installed in Wawel Cathedral. The Renaissance retable was disassembled and taken to the collegiate church in Kielce, where it was set up in the apse of the chancel. The Kraków altar was sent from there to Bodzentyn following the construction of a new chancel 80 years later. There it stands to this day as the main high altar in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr.
First class Renaissance works of art have retained their value, even though tastes and preferences changed in the baroque. When new altars, furnishings, paintings, figures, and liturgical vestments and vessels were commissioned by grand and wealthy churches in the 17th and 18th centuries, the older chattels - Gothic and Renaissance - were sent to the provinces. This happened with the main altar (1546-1550) and ciborium from Wawel Cathedral. The altar was initially removed to Kielce, and several years later to Bodzentyn, in turn, the ciborium was divided, and its most important part was deposited in the church in Modlnica.
