ST. BARTHOLOMEW CHURCH AT LUDWINÓW
St. Bartholomew Church at Ludwinów
Ul. Komandosów 27
30-334 Cracow
Poland
The church (Fig. 1) was founded around 1694 by Mikołaj Ludwik Grabiański (ca 1650–1714), treasurer of Bishop Jan Małachowski. Grabiański was involved in various artistic endeavours. He supervised the works at the Church of the Visitation Sisters in Cracow, designed its high altar, co-financed the house of the Presentation Sisters, and made a small donation to the Church of St. Anne. The churches in Ludwinów and Jeleń, near Jaworzno, might have been designed by himself.
The church in Ludwinów, originally a chapel for the St. Michael parish in Kazimierz, was separated from it by the border of the First Partition of Poland in 1772, and in 1782 became a seat of a new parish. After the construction of a new church in 1982, it has been used only occasionally. The church underwent restorations (1851, 1895, 1963), including a cleaning of the stuccoes in 1973. It is currently under restoration, with new works on the stuccoes planned.
Conch of the apse
The conch of the apse (Fig. 2) is filled with a radiant glory with an image of Dove of the Holy Spirit at its centre (Fig. 3). Above there is a bust length image of God the Father (Fig. 4) blessing with his right hand while holding the globe in his left. The entire composition is surrounded by clouds and angel’s heads. This decoration likely dates to the period when Baldassarre Fontana was working at the Church of St. Anne, though it may have been executed slightly earlier during his visit to nearby Wieliczka1.
