Zprávy památkové péče 2016, 76(6):627-636

Geometric analysis of late Gothic vaulting in the chapel of St. Jerome in the Olomouc City Hall

Thomas Bauer, Jörg Lauterbach, Michaela Pavelková Rýdlová

This article presents a study of the vaults in the chapel of St. Jerome at the city hall of Olomouc. The study used very exact methodological approaches, exploration of exposed stonework techniques of the individual parts of the interior walls, and research of archival sources, all resulting in following conclusions: the chapel of St. Jerome and its bay window were vaulted in the same period. The net vaulting does not represent, when compared with the rib vaulting, a significantly smaller part; instead, it is the original result of the processing of a demanding task due to the irregular ground plan of the chapel.
Based on the results of dendrochronological dating of the city hall trusses, the authors of the study believe that the most likely dating of the chapel vaulting is around 1505-1506. The builder, active in the construction of both arches, was most certainly trained in some of the more important transalpine medieval works. The local Olomouc formal repertoire corresponds to the stylish aspects of important late Gothic buildings from the 1480's and 1490's. The Olomouc chapel of St. Jerome as well as the nearby Mořice church were among the buildings following the modern deconstructive architectural language after the year 1500.

Keywords: Olomouc; City Hall chapel of St. Jerome; rib vaulting; geometrical analysis; late Gothic architecture

Published: December 1, 2016  Show citation