Stone Christ that spoke
St Mary’s Basilica in Cracow is probably known all over the world for its magnificent late gothic carved main altarpiece – a masterpiece by Veit Stoss, completed in 1477-1489. It has been restored lately and the restoration project was granted European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award 2023.
Meanwhile, in the same church there is another artwork by Veit Stoss: the so called Slacker Crucifix in one of the side altars, by the eastern wall of the southern aisle. It is absolutely amazing sculpture, albeit probably less known.
Slacker Crucifix, photo Juliusz Raczkowski, 2005, https://kolomedievi.umk.pl/fototeka/964/krucyfiks-slackerowski
The figure of Christ is over 2.5 m heigh, and made of local Pinczow limestone, not of wood, which is rather surprising. It is possible that it was originally meant to be placed outside. The donor of this artwork was Henryk Slacker and the sculpture is dated to the early 1490s (or ca. 1490, or a bit earlier than that). Initially the stone sculpture was not polychromed, and it was painted later according to the donor’s will.
Henryk Slacker, son of Sebastian, came from a German city Reutlingen, and in 1479 he became a citizen of Cracow. He married here, and also his brother Erhard settled in Cracow some time later. Erhard’s sons became Henryk’s heirs, as he did not have children of his own. The nephews inherited quite a lot, as Henryk was a rich man – he was a merchant and a mint-master. In 1495, when the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Jagiellon, established the first grand-ducal mint in Lithuania, Henryk Slacker was given the job of setting the enterprise. In 1501 Alexander Jagiellon became the king of Poland, and Henryk Slacker took over running the mint in Cracow, set in nowadays Hetman’s House by the Main Market Square. Duke and later king Alexander many times borrowed money from Henryk Slacker.
Henryk Slacker died in June 1504, and in his will he reserved money for painting the sculpted stone crucifix that he funded earlier, as well as assisting figures of St John and Virgin Mary, and for walling up a window behind the altar where the whole group was placed by that time. The figures of Mary and John did not survive – we don’t know who and when made them, or how they looked. Perhaps originally the stone crucifix was supposed to be placed on the church graveyard, but later for some reason ended up inside the Basilica. If the figures of Virgin Mary and St John were added after 1496, when Stoss went back to Nuremberg, someone else must have created them. The order to wall up the window also suggests that the crucifix was placed in the new space around that time – a space that needed to be re-arranged. Eventually the crucifix ended up in a late-baroque altarpiece.
photo Zygmunt Put 2021, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_Our_Lady_Assumed_into_Heaven,_crucifix-ca._1496_by_Veit_Stoss_,_5_Mariacki_square,_Old_Town,_Krak%C3%B3w,_Poland.jpg
Slacker Crucifix presents an exceptional artistic value – it is an absolutely amazing depiction of a male body, with carefully carved anatomical details. Except for… the belly button! It is unlikely that Stoss just forgot about the belly button – he rather decided to show Christ here as the New Adam (who was not born, so he perhaps did not have belly button). It was popular in the late Middle Ages to present Christ as New Adam and Virgin Mary as New Eve. A nice example of that is a miniature from the Hours of Catherine de Clèves (after 1434, The Morgan Library and Museum in New York, M.917 i M.975 – I previously wrote about this manuscript HERE and HERE).
Virgin Mary as New Eve, https://www.themorgan.org/collection/hours-of-catherine-of-cleves/222
Slacker Crucifix is exceptionally expressive: Christ’s body is tensed, he does not hang down on the cross (as in earlier depictions). This new kind of composition was broadly repeated by all the local followers of Veit Stoss. A characteristic angular swirling fold of the Christ’s loincloth is very dynamic; in fact, there used to be another by the other hip of Christ, but that fold broke off and got lost.
Photo by Monika Jakubek-Raczkowska, 2011, https://kolomedievi.umk.pl/fototeka/964/krucyfiks-slackerowski
The figure of Christ sculpted by Stoss is also very theatrical – one may say it is a work of art that interacts with the viewer. Pierced side of Jesus and his head hanging down indicate that this is a depiction of dead Christ. A huge crown of thorns casts a shadow on his face, so from the distance we can’t see that his eyes are cracked open. While we approach the altar and watch the sculpture in a changing angle, it seems that Christ is slowly opening his eyes to look at us.
fot. Ludwig Schneider, 2009, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Krucyfiks_Wita_Stwosza03.jpg
Probably because of that, as well as due to open mouth, some legends grew around the Slacker Crucifix. Firstly, in the 17th c. guidebook of Cracow churches (by Piotr Hiacynt Pruszcz, entitled “Stołecznego Miasta Krakowa Koscioły y Kleynoty…”, 1647) we will find an information that even though the sculpture is made of stone, it once turned out to feel warm and soft as a real human body, when it was touched by a painter who was hired to renovate it. Secondly (and here is why open mouth matters), later 18th-century edition of the same book (revised and extended, entitled „Kleynoty Stołecznego Miasta Krakowa, Albo Koscioły y co w nich iest widzenia godnego y znacznego…”) provides another legend; apparently this figure of Christ once talked to a 15th-century priest from this church, scolding him for neglecting everyday Psalter singing. The priest in question was blessed Świętosław Milczący (i.e. “the Silent”, who in fact has not been officially recognised as blessed or saint yet), who chose to remain speechless as a form of mortification of his flesh. Apparently that should not had been extended on his prayer duties, though. The problem with this legend is a timeline: it makes sense only if we accept early dating of the Slacker Crucifix (before 1490), as Świętosław died in 1489.
Świętosław Milczący, painting from the parish church in Niepołomice, 1766, photo by Father Szymon Tracz, “Świętosław Milczący”, [in:] “Sakralne Dziedzictwo Małopolski”, 2023: https://sdm.upjp2.edu.pl/dziela/swietoslaw-milczacy
Crucifix of Queen Jadwiga, late 14th c., Cracow Cathedral, https://muzea.malopolska.pl/pl/lista-obiektow/1171
It was a popular motif in legends related to the figures of Christ – especially to crucifixes – that a sculpture miraculously “came to life”. On this subject I can also recommend you my older posts on Volto Santo that was supposed to give his shoe to a poor musician (available HERE) and on a possibly Cracow version of that sculpture (available HERE). Also, in the Franciscan’s Church in Cracow there used to be a crucifix that allegedly once caught a thief by his hair.
Late gothic depictions of crucified Christ – dramatic, expressive, dynamic – were so appealing that it was often believed that they could suddenly come to life. Slacker Crucifix has been widely admired for centuries – thanks to superb Stoss’ craftsmanship – by anyone who gets to turn their sight from the main altarpiece of St Mary’s Basilica and take a look around to find out what treasures are stored in the side aisles. Remember go there and discover it yourself if you ever visit Cracow.
First of all, thank you very much for a very interesting, very informative (I never knew that Veit Stoß had worked at Cracow, and even left one of his most stunning works there!) and very well written article! I’ve never been to Cracow, or Poland, at all, and I think this is the first time I really regretted it (language barriers are a terrible thing, aren’t they?)
I don’t know whether the name Giovanni Guareschi rings a bell with you; but your article revived fond memories of my teen years, when I read quite a few of his “Don Camillo and Peppone” stories (there have been some movies, too, with Fernandel playing Don Camillo — perhaps you have come across one of those). If you don’t know, Guareschi’s novels and stories describe the never ending fights between an Italian village priest — Don Camillo — and the communist mayor — Peppone — of said village, in the years following the end of WW II. And Don Camillo, throughout the course of his fights, holds conference with the crucifix in his church, asking advice, seeking confirmation, feeling guilty for going in with his fists etc. … Because, yes!, the figure of Christ talks to him — giving advice, scolding him, and sometimes even mocking him. Those conversations with the figure of Christ were always my favourite parts of the books; they are so witty, so full of common sense, so sincere, and so heartwarming!
Well, it was particularly the story of the Slacker Crucifix scolding a priest for neglecting his prayer duties, because of a vow driven to the extreme, that revived my memories — it sounded exactly like something that could have happened to Don Camillo! It seemed so uncanny that I looked up Giovanni Guareschi in Wikipedia. And I found out that, at the end of WW II, he spent two years as a prisoner of war, and part of those two years at Częstochowa and Beniaminów! So, there might be reason to assume that those legends of the figure of Christ talking may have even inspired a series of very entertaining (and, at the time of their publishing, very successful) novels!
Anyhow, thank you again, and all the best!
Thank you SO MUCH for this amazing comment!
Yes, I do know (and love) “Don Camillo” series – what a great association! The connection never occurred to me before, but you are right, and the motif of “talking Christ” is indeed rooted in medieval legends (as I like to say: everything already happened in the Middle Ages!)
About Veit Stoss – not only had he worked in Cracow – he spent nearly 20 years here and left many masterpieces behind. The most significant and famous is the main altarpiece that I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but also very important is e.g. amazing tomb of the king Casimir IV Jagiellon in Cracow cathedral (https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/1034).
You should definitively visit Cracow! 🙂
Best wishes!