Mar e k Wa l c z a k : O n H e r a l d i c St y l i s a t i o n i n 14 t h C e n t u r y A r c h i t e c t u r a l S c u l p t u r e
Alexander Freiherr von Reitzenstein observed that it was then that a new mode of representing an armed man had emerged, which consisted in a conscious display of elements of armour, amazing in its detail, perhaps for the sculptor to show off in this field. As for tomb sculpture, an iconographic type was gradually developing which Reitzenstein defined as Der Ritter im Heergewäte.18 It is essential from a heraldic viewpoint that in many of these effigies the deceased are holding a shield with a coat of arms in one hand and a helmet with an elaborate crest in the other. This is the case, for example, of the tombs of Günther von Schwarzburg († 1349) and Rudolf von Sachsenhausen († 1371) in the Church of St Bartholomew in Frankfurt on Main.19 The details are rendered here with such precision that it is possible to identify the method by which the crests were made. The closed helmets with a narrow sightslit were surmounted by the figures of a leopard and a swan, probably made from dyed leather. In the monument of Rudolf von Sachsenhausen the edge of the leather is slit with regular cuts which served to join the crest to the helmet. [ill. 5] Attached to the sides were red-coloured wings covered with gilt ornamentation. In accordance with a knightly custom, a similar separation of the elements forming an armorial bearing can be seen in the stone portraits that once decorated the cloth hall in Mainz.20 Here the Electors of the Reich are
16
ŻYGULSKI, Zdzisław jun.: Broń w dawnej Polsce na tle uzbrojenia Europy i Bliskiego Wschodu. Warszawa 1982, p. 99; KAJZER, Leszek: Uzbrojenie i ubiór rycerski w średniowiecznej Małopolsce w świetle źródeł ikonograficznych. Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków – Gdańsk 1976, pp. 111-113, ill. 31; NOWAKOWSKI 1990, (op. cit. note 15), p. 42; BRZUSTOWICZ, Bogdan W.: Turniej rycerski w Królestwie Polskim w późnym średniowieczu i renesansie na tle europejskim. Warszawa 2003, pp. 379-380. 17 The closest analogy with the Cracow headpieces are the helmets on the seal – with a personage standing – of Duke Ladislas the Short (cf. below) and on the seal of the city of Tarnów, bearing the image of the founder of the city, Spicymir Leliwita; GUMOWSKI, Marian: Najstarsze pieczęcie miast polskich XIII i XIV wieku. Toruń 1960, pp. 221-222, nr. 455, pl. XXXVI (Roczniki Towarzystwa Naukowego w Toruniu, ann. 62, no. 2); SEROKA, Henryk: Herby miast małopolskich do końca XVIII wieku. Warszawa 2002, p. 57, ill. 22. 18 FREIHERR VON REITZENSTEIN, Alexander: Der Ritter im Heergewäte. Bemerkungen über einige Bildgrabsteine der Hochgotik. In: Studien zur Geschichte der Europäischen Plastik. Eds. Kurt MARTIN – Halldor SOEHNER – Erich STEINGRÄBER – Hans R. WEIHRAUCH. München 1965, pp. 73-91, ill. 6-19. 19 FISCHEL, E. Lilly: Mittelrheinische Plastik des 14. Jahrhunderts. München 1923, pl. XXXVIII; BOTT, Barbara: Grabmal des Gegenkönigs Günther von Schwarzburg. In: LEGNER (ed.) 1978 (op. cit. note 8), Vol. I, pp. 245-246; BECK, Herbert – BEEH, Wolfgang: Grabmal des Rudolf von Sachsenhausen († 1371). In: ibidem, p. 247; Die Ausstattung des Frankfurter Domes. Ed. Elsbeth DE WEERTH. Frankfurt a. Main 1999, cat. I/2, pp. 187-191; cat. I/7, pp. 198-200, pl. VI. 20 This building was destroyed during the siege of the city by the French army in 1793 and eventually pulled down early in the
5. Frankfurt am Main, Church of St Bartholomew, the tomb of Rudolf von Sachsenhausen. D. 1371. Photo: M. Walczak
present on the bosses in Cracow and Bratislava represent the so-called great helm kind, whose skull rested on the knight’s shoulders, this entailing the necessity to pierce its front part for breathing.16 In Cracow the skulls are made of several moulded plates riveted together, and they have a pronounced front ridge. Their expressive form with a large number of broken lines sets them definitely apart from 13th century helmets rounded in form. In nearly all cases there appear two sight slits and below them breathing openings which are arranged in various patterns. The most characteristic element repeated in the Cracow helmets is the reinforcement of the front with an additional plate, which probably goes back to the tournament tradition.17 The reliefs of interest here most certainly cannot be dated on the basis of their morphological features. However, the typological choice and stylisation of the helmets excellently underscore the official character of the decoration. The headpieces under discussion (this refers to Cracow in particular) were executed with accuracy and meticulous care for detail, this finding numerous analogies in stone sculpture in the Reich from the 1330s. 60