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Originally
the whole floor was taken up by one room...
Chapel of Our
Lady
View
of the altar part of the Church of Our Lady with a Gothic sculpture
of the Madonna with Child and a Gothic sanctuarium.
The
next grade in the hierarchy of
the Karlstejn buildings is the tower of the Church of Our Lady. The
two rooms on the first floor of the tower served the vassals for a certain
period, later being at the disposal of the chapter deanery. On the ground
floor there was even a prison, called Cervenka.
The
second floor is occupied by the Chapel of Our Lady with adjoining
St. Catherine's Chapel and the church sacristy. Originally the whole
floor was taken up by one room, patently another reception hall which
was to be set with polished semi-precious stones. However, changes came
about in this conception already during the construction work. The hall
was divided by a partition and the Chapel of Our Lady and the sacristy
originated here.
The present division is the result of building works carried out at
the end of the 19th century, but it corresponds to that of the time
of Charles IV. The chapel consecrated to the Assumption of Our Lady
belonged to the Karlstejn chapter. Divine services took place in the
chapel, solemn masses were and still are served in it and other church
ceremonies are held here.
Of
the greatest value in the Chapel of Our Lady are its wall paintings.
They have not been preserved in their full extent of the time of Charles
IV. For example, the paintings on the northern wall ceased to exist
in the Renaissance period and the upper band of paintings on the southern
side, where Charles IV was portrayed with his first consort Blanche
of Valois, has also disappeared. However, the painting on the walls
ranks among the peak works of Gothic painting art and bears witness
to the outstanding standard of painting at Charles court.
On
the southern wall there are socalled relics scenes. The first
scene shows Charles IV, wearing the imperial robe and crown, receiving
Christ's relics from the French Dauphin, Charles of Valois, later King
Charles V. This painting originated on the basis of the real event of
1356 at Metz.
The
second scene portrays Charles receiving more of Christ's relics
from the margrave Loysius Gonzaga. Some older interpretations identified
the person of the second king with Peter Lusignan of Jerusalem and Cyprus
or Ludwig the Great of Hungary.
In
the third relics scene Charles IV is seen placing the acquired
relics in a gold reliquary cross, which was newly made for the purpose.
These wall paintings are attributed to the court painter Mikulas Wurmser
of Strassbourg, who settled in Bohemia and was received by the court
at the nearby village of Morina as a reward for his artistic work. The
relics scenes originated about 1356.
The remaining walls of the Chapel of Our Lady were covered with wall
paintings with scenes from the Apocalypse. They began on the eastern
wall and ended on the northern one, which ceased to exist already in
the Renaissance period, however. The new partition of the 19th century
restored its original size to the interior, but without wall paintings.
The
present Apocalypse cycle begins on the southern side, on the
left side of the window, with a painting of four riders illustrating
the chapter The Revelation. The next band on the eastern wall portrays
The Unchaining of the Four Demons on the Banks of the Euphrates and
then The Revelation of St. John, where the catastrophes suffered by
mankind are depicted. After these we can see the story of the prophets
Enoch and Elijah. The last series begins with a portrayal of The Angel
Announcing a Catastrophe, which is depicted in the next painting - The
Destruction of the City by an Earthquake. The final scenes show The
Rebellion of the Devils Against Heaven, Their Battle with the Angels
and Their Defeat. The last series continued on the walls of the northern
partition and most likely culminated with a portrayal of Heavenly Jerusalem.
This part of the cycle, which prepared pilgrims for the greatest experience
of the Chapel of the Holy Rood, no longer exists. The western side brings
the apocalyptic cycle of wall paintings to a end with The Assumption
of Our Lady. shown standing on a crescent with a crown of stars.
On
the high altar of the chapel there is a polychrome statue of
Our lady with Child, which most probably still formed a part of the
original furnishings of the time of Charles IV.
It is attributed to the workshop of Peter Parler, an outstanding architect
and sculptor of Charles's time who worked on the building of St. Vitus's
Cathedral in Prague and the sculptural decoration of its triforium (a
portrait of the bust of Charles IV and other Czech rulers, their consorts
and church dignitaries).
Set in the northern altar wall is a Gothic sanctuarium, which ranks
among the rarely preserved elements of the castle building.
The
general decoration of the chapel also included a wooden beam
ceiling portraying a blue sky with the figures of angels.
The present ceiling was reconstructed in the 19th century after the
original one, which still had a painted frieze with portrayals of the
Czech eagle and the imperial female eagle.
