Renesansowe i manierystyczne epitafia z kaplicy św. Materna w kościele św. Elżbiety we Wrocławiu
Renaissance and Mannerist epitaphs from the chapel of St. Materna in the church of St. Elizabeth in Wrocław

Summary/Abstract: The topic of this article are Renaissance and Manneristic epitaphs originating from the medieval chapel of St. Maternus in St. Elizabeth church. Since 1850 they have been situated at the north aisle of this city parish church in one of the richest chapels which used to belong to the family von Rehdigers auf Striesa (no. XII). These four funerary monuments – Hermann von Mühlpfort and his wife Maria maiden name von Roth (†1606), Fabian Reiff and his wife Hedwig maiden name Greusser (†1555), Matthias Renisch (†1592) and Daniel Kienner (†1610) with his two wives’ – were restored in 2010. The restoration was an occasion to regain their original shapes. As it has occurred, during their transfer from the destroyed St. Maternus chapel their elements were falsely combined and this way hybrid, heterogeneous stylistically and formally monuments, were created. Their present reconstruction (based on iconographic sources, namely Heinrich Mützel’s drawings of 1824, and results of archival queries) has allowed us to perceive them as interesting examples of sculpture in Wrocław in Early Modern times and works by such representative artists of this era as Monogrammist „AW” (Andreas Walther?) or Gerhard Hendrik from Amsterdam. This is how, making corrections after German renovators from the mid 1850s, the precious artistic monuments, traces of the former richness of St. Maternus chapel furnishing, have been restored. This article as well confirms the need of continuous archival search over the inheritance of St. Elizabeth church, but it also expresses deep interest for any renovators‘ actions. As they absolutely have to be consulted with historians of art!

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