Pictorial documentation of the Royal Sarcophagi from the Wawel Cathedral in the Jagiellonian University Museum Collection and its use during conservation work

In the 1870s, during renovation works in the crypts under the Wawel Cathedral, which were carried out in order to adapt them for visitors, a detailed inventory was created of the sarcophagi from the Royal Tombs. This documentation, which is now stored in the collections of the Jagiellonian University Museum, was initiated by Prof. Józef Łepkowski, a researcher of exceptional merit in the inventory and documentation of historical objects. Pencil drawings, watercolors and pencil frottages were made by Kraków painters and students of the School of Fine Arts. Each of the renovated coffins was meticulously documented in every detail and it also includes reproductions and frottages of memorial plaques. These materials constitute an invaluable base, both as an iconographic source for the art historian and for the conservator during conservation activities. They were used during the recent restoration and conservation of the metal royal sarcophagi carried out by the monument conservation workshop of Agnieszka and Tomasz Trzos. Analysis of the preserved iconographic sources collected by an art historian and of the material research performed by restorers permitted not only the reconstruction of the original color scheme of the royal sarcophagi, but also allowed the restoration of Sigismund II Augustus’ coffin to its primary form. The effects of this conservation work attest to the crucial role of a meticulously prepared documentation.

In the 1870s, during renovation works in the crypts under the Wawel Cathedral, which were carried out in order to adapt them for visitors, a detailed inventory was created of the sarcophagi from the Royal Tombs. This documentation, which is now stored in the collections of the Jagiellonian University Museum, was initiated by Prof. Józef Łepkowski, a researcher of exceptional merit in the inventory and documentation of historical objects. Pencil drawings, watercolors and pencil frottages were made by Kraków painters and students of the School of Fine Arts. Each of the renovated coffins was meticulously documented in every detail and it also includes reproductions and frottages of memorial plaques. These materials constitute an invaluable base, both as an iconographic source for the art historian and for the conservator during conservation activities. They were used during the recent restoration and conservation of the metal royal sarcophagi carried out by the monument conservation workshop of Agnieszka and Tomasz Trzos. Analysis of the preserved iconographic sources collected by an art historian and of the material research performed by restorers permitted not only the reconstruction of the original color scheme of the royal sarcophagi, but also allowed the restoration of Sigismund II Augustus’ coffin to its primary form. The effects of this conservation work attest to the crucial role of a meticulously prepared documentation.