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Articles which formed a direct part
of the furnishings of the Chapel of the Holy Rood...
THE TREASURE HOUSE
Displayed
in the next interior are articles
which formed a direct part of the furnishings of the Chapel of the Holy
Rood in the Great Tower. The decoration of the chapel is brought to
mind on the front wall by five panel paintings from the workshop of
Master Theodoric - St. Jerome in the middle, St. Elizabeth and the Holy
Pope on the left, St. Matthew and St. Vitus on the right side. The Chapel
of the Holy Rood was decorated with some 130 of such paintings which,
after undergoing restoration research and work, were returned to the
original interior for which they were created in the 14th century.
Situated
below the paintings are two large Renaissance cabinets built
on the instigation of the Emperor Matthias in 1612 as the date on one
of them indicates. These richly carved cabinets with tarsia decoration
served to hold the provincial archives, important state and provincial
documents and rolls which were taken to Karlstejn and placed next to
the Czech coronation jewels. The archives and the coronation jewels
remained at the castle until 22nd June, 1619, when they were definitely
taken to Prague.
The
replica of the St. Vaclav crown brings to mind the historic epoch during
which Karlstejn served, as the state treasury, to house the Czech coronation
jewels and important documents from the Czech archives. The St. Vaclav
crown is decorated with 20 pearls and 96 precious stones, emeralds,
sapphires and spinels. In the centre of the front side there is a large
ruby. Specialists manifest particular admiration for the sapphires.
There are 19 on the crown and 6 of them rank among the largest in the
world.
The
replica of the St. Vaclav Crown, exhibited in the Treasure House,
testifies once again to the historical importance of the function of
the castle, where at Charles's time the imperial coronation jewels were
deposited, and from the time of the Hussite wars the Czech coronation
jewels. The St. Vaclav crown was made to the order of Charles IV for
his coronation as the Czech king in 1347. It was placed on his head
by the then first Czech archbishop, Arnost of Pardubice. The crown,
which has composed parts of what was probably an older diadem, is decorated
with large rubies, sapphires and other precious stones. On the top of
the cross there is a presumed thorn from Christ's crown. During the
reign of Charles IV the Czech coronation jewels with the St. Vaclav
crown were kept in the Chapel of St. Vaclav in Prague Castle.
