Holy Cross altar

Identifier

DZIELO/23615

Amount

1

Catalogue note author

Józef Skrabski

Abstract

The Holy Cross altar (created in 1698–1703) is the work of a workshop managed by Baltazar Fontana. It is an example of the reception of Roman works by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini in terms of the expressive treatment of drapery and imitation of Roman works. In the scene of the Glory of the Cross with Virgin Mary and deceased Christ lying on her lap and the cross raised by angels, the artist was inspired by Domenico Guidi's work – an altar in the chapel of the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà in Rome. Pietà itself evokes a painting of another Roman artist, the painter Annibale Carracci. The altar is one of the most outstanding Fontana's works and one of the most interesting examples of the reception of Roman sculpture in Poland.