Metal Sarcophagi in the Royal Tombs on Wawel Hill: Their History, Meaning, Conservation Treatment and Restoration
The first interdisciplinary, richly illustrated monograph of the Wawel metal sarcophagi, encompassing their wide cultural and historical context as well as their conservation and the related technological and morphological issues.
The book stems from a long-time cooperation of the authors, an art conservator and an art historian, during the conservation treatment and restoration of 18 sarcophagi from the Wawel crypts carried out by the Tychy conservation studio of Agnieszka and Tomasz Trzos from 2015 to 2020.
The book consists of two parts. The history of crypts and coffins is discussed, accompanied by the origin and phenomenon of the metal sarcophagi in Europe and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and a presentation of technological problems and the findings resulting from the conservation treatment. The catalogue part of the book includes extensive entries on the objects. In addition to their description, origin and subsequent fates, the authors offer an interpretation of the meaning of the sarcophagi’s decorations, accompanied by an account of the conservation works and the conclusions drawn from them.
Text in Polish, summaries in English and German.