The Black Crucifix of Wawel: the Crucifix of Queen Jadwiga, Leon Wyczółkowski and Saint John Paul II

Abstract

A unique Gothic crucifix has been worshiped in the Wawel Royal Cathedral throughout centuries. The sculpture created in Bohemia or Hungary around 1380 was brought by Jadwiga of Poland (1374- 1399) from Hungary to Poland, most likely in 1384. At the feet of Christ Crucified the monarch prayed for the gift of wisdom to rule the kingdom. The crucifix was placed in an altar in the Wawel Royal Cathedral and it has inspired a great devotion to the Crucified. After premature death of Jadwiga in 1399 the altar became a place of veneration of the monarch, which ever since has been lasting unceasingly. Due to the fact that prayers of the faithful through intercession of the queen at the crucifix were blessed by wonders it acquired great significance and started being called ‘miraculous’.

Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, carrying out the function of the Metropolitan of Kraków, evoked the memory of Jadwiga in a particular way, encouraged her veneration and intensified efforts towards her canonization. He regarded the Crucifix of Jadwiga as ‘a place of the powerful testimony’. As pope John Paul II he canonized the queen during the Eucharist celebrated in Błonia Park in Krakow on the 8th of June 1997. The crucifix became a symbol of Polish history, spiritual heritage and deep faith of the Polish nation, what has been proved by the strong presence of this motif in fine arts. In the time of partitions of Poland Leon Wyczółkowski (1852-1936), an outstanding Polish artist and a teacher depicted it many times using a range of artistic techniques. A lively interest in a pastel ‘Crucifix of Jadwiga of Poland’ by Wyczółkowski auctioned in Kraków in 2019, which price went from 35 000 PLN (starting price) to 54 000 PLN (hammer price) after emotional bidding reveals how profound is its significance to the Polish nation nowadays.