Charakterystyka i proweniencja piaskowców z gotyckiego portalu bazyliki Św. Elżbiety Węgierskiej we Wrocławiu

Abstract

Characterization and provenance of sandstones from the gothic portal of St. Elizabeth of Hungary basilica in Wrocław.A b s t r a c t. The St. Elizabeth of Hungary Basilica is one of the most important and recognizable monuments of Wrocław – the capital of Lower Silesia (SW part of Poland). The origin of the church dates back to the beginning of the 13th century. The basilica received its present Gothic form in the 14th–15th centuries. At the foot of the church tower, overlooking the buildings of the nearby Market Square, there is a late-Gothic portal built in 1456. This is the oldest portal of the basilica. Adjacent to it, there are epitaphs of wealthy Wrocław burghers. These monuments are the top-class works of Silesian stonemasonry and also an interesting example of the use of natural stone in constructing architectural details. From the portal and three epitaphs (devoted to the Krapps’ family,Georg Althoff Scholz and Hans Schulz von Wolkovitz), a total of ten samples of clastic rock were collected. These were subjected to detailed petrographic and mineralogical studies in order to determine the provenance of the stone material. The research confirmed that these architectural details were made of quartz sandstones. The probable source of this material was the Cretaceous joint sandstones from the North-Sudetic Basin (Conacian, upper joint sandstone – Rakowice type).