Glowing like a miracle...
CHAPEL OF THE HOLY ROOD
General
view of the Chapel of the Holy Rood.
After climbing the dark staircase in the Great Tower the visitor was confronted by the interior of the Chapel of the Holy Rood, glowing like a miracle with its decorations in the form of precious stones, gilding and stars of Venetian glass with the Sun and the Moon in a painted sky.
Expressed here was the imaginary world of Heavenly Jerusalem, a heavenly world, a paradise of just spirits occupied by Christ and all the saints.
The interior of the chapel is divided into two parts by a gilded grille and it is vaulted with the two fields of a cross vault. The walls are inlaid with polished coloured semi-precious stones set in gilded plaster, where Charles's initials, the imperial crown, the Czech lion and the imperial eagle are moulded.
The
decoration of the chapel was entrusted to the court painter Master
Theodoric. It was from his workshop that some of the wall paintings, but
particularly the panel paintings, numbering 130 and filling the walls
of the chapel on the lower band of incrustation, came. Placed in the frames
of many of them as though in reliquaries are relics which were supposed
to confirm the spiritual presence of the portrayed persons.
The
depicted figures guarded the deposited treasure like soldiers. The selection
of portrayed saints was based on the texts of the litany to All Saints
and their portraits were divided into individual groups in strictly defined
places according to a strict hierarchy.
The
altar part of the Chapel of the Holy Rood with the recess above which
there is Tommas da Modena's triptych with The Madonna with Child, St.
Wenceslas and St. Palmatius.
The
dominant of the altar wall is a triptych of Tommas da Modena with
portraits of the Madonna with Child, St. Wences-las and St. Palmatius.
The imperial and later the Czech coronation jewels were placed below them
in a recess in the altar. A large painting The Crucifixion of Christ is
situated on the same wall.Portraits of the twelve Apostles surround the paintings of Christ on the high altar and also portrayed here are the holy martyrs, holy widows and virgins, bishops, popes and knights and holy rulers, the chief place among whom is occupied by Charlemagne.
Only
particularly important masses were held in the Chapel of the Holy
Rood and only archbishops and the Karlstejn dean were allowed to serve
them. As a proof of his respect Charles IV himself entered the chapel
bare-footed. Access to this chapel could be gained only with the emperor's
consent and later with the permission of the Diet of the Estates. The
chapel was secured with four doors with nine locks. Apart from this, the
interior of the chapel was guarded by the guards who lived in the rooms
of the Great Tower above the chapel.The Chapel of the Holy Rood, the Chapel of Our Lady and St. Catherine's Chapel at Karlstejn Castle have remained unique monuments testifying to the importance of the period of reign of the Czech king and Roman emperor Charles IV.
