Lock – Wawel – Royal chambers – Wawel heads
Wawel heads are the oldest relics among objects created especially for Wawel, another unique work testifying to the cultural maturity of the commissioners and the high-class artistry of their creators. There is no certainty, where do some rare themes come from.
The most outstanding creator of Krakow heads was master Sebastian Tauerbach, w 1529 r. brought to Krakow from Wrocław, who also came with his team and worked for the needs of the Wawel court – first for Zygmunt Stary, and then for his son – almost twenty-five years. Many objects of high artistic quality came out from under his chisel, decorating the royal chambers, chapels and other rooms. The other headmaker was Hans (Joannes) Woodcarver, a gifted sculptor of crucifixes and figures of saints, who for many years was responsible for the conservation of the altar of Wit Stwosz in St Mary's Church.
The heads of the Hall of Deputies were carved from linden wood. Of the original one hundred and ninety-four, only thirty have survived. As you can see, these are realistic male and female heads, each of which is different: crowned, in court covers, bourgeois, student, heads in helmets, without a cover, allegorical, screaming, smiling, with pursed or even blindfolded lips. The latter, if you believe the omniscient legend, the mouth is tied, because she dared to speak to Sigismund Augustus: Rex Augustus, a fair (King Augustus, judge fairly). Perhaps the heads from the Hall of Deputies served as an illustration to a literary work or a world chronicle.
Sala Pod Zodiakiem is a former representative dining room. A glance at the frieze depicting the zodiac signs explains its name. The room is decorated with magnificent tapestries from the Building of the Tower of Babel series.
The Hall of the Planets, formerly known as Szklana, is surrounded by a frieze with the personification of planets in the upper part of the walls. The tapestry from the Story of Noah series is called Drunkenness of Noah.
Frieze in the next room, depicting scenes from the Battle of Orsza in 1514 r., gave the name of the hall of the Battle of Orsha.
The next hall served as a dining room for Sigismund III Vasa. The painting depicting Pallas Athena was recreated in the years 30. XX w. Lucjan Adwentowicz. The rooms of the northern wing are decorated with early Baroque plafonds. The first is the so-called. The Bird Room from the 17th century, with a marble fireplace and the coats of arms of Poland and the Vasa. It served as the bedroom of King Sigismund III Vasa.
Once upon a time, there was an eagle sculpture in the center of the ceiling of the Eagle Hall; however, it has not survived to our times. Royal courts used to be held in this room. Beautiful furniture from the 17th century. come from Gdańsk.
The hall in front of the Senator's Hall is the result of Master Trevano's work. It is worth paying attention to the stairs, which are much more convenient here, because they are wider, and their degrees are lower. Such a solution, announcing the splendor of the Baroque, it allowed parades of royal processions.
The largest chamber in the castle is the Senators' Hall. State ceremonies were held here, Senate meetings, theater performances and balls – the wooden "balcony" located here is a gallery for the court orchestra. The five tapestries hanging on the walls belong to the series The History of Noah. You can see the entire biblical story here: the construction of the ark, boarding of animals, terrible flood, the exit of the animals and Noah's thanksgiving sacrifice. The space between the large tapestries is occupied by smaller ones, depicting animals against the backdrop of the landscape. Satyrs look down from the tapestries under the gallery, and above them hang fabrics with the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania. And here, the place after the throne was taken by a classicist armchair from the 18th century., supposedly belonging to Stanisław August Poniatowski. During the times of the general governorate, Hans Frank arranged a cinema in the Senatorial Hall.
