Zprávy památkové péče 2020, 80(2):200-208 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2020.2.06

Aristocratic necropoleis of the Jagiellonian and early modern period - their significance and function: Bechyně and Němčice

Jan Chlíbec, Jiří Roháček

ÚDU AV ČR, v. v. i.

Due to historical circumstances, only a small number of more complete medieval aristocratic necropoleis have been preserved in Bohemia to this day. Such an example of the longer time continuity and complexity of the family burial ground are given by two South Bohemian necropoleis - in the monastery church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Bechyně and in the parish church of St. Nicholas in Němčice. Both aristocratic necropoleis from the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance are also examples of burial grounds of the significant upper nobility (Bechyně) and the lower, local nobility (Němčice). Both types of necropolis show similarities (emphasis on preserving the place of family burials, proof of kinship), but also differences - the works of the Bechyně necropolis markedly emphasize the artistic side of the tombstone and the type of stone used as a manifestation of family self-representation, unlike the necropolis in Němčice, where the stonework and even the material used for the tombstone recedes into the background in terms of quality. The sculptors and stonemason workshops of Bechyně tombstones focus on progressive artistic tendencies in Transalpine sepulchral sculpture, especially in the area of Passau and the wider Danube. The creators of tombstones of the lower nobility in Němčice remain at the traditional provincial level of local production.
The Bechyně necropolis contained the tombstones of the owners of the Bechyně Šternberk estate, the founders and improvers of the Bechyně Franciscan-Observant monastery, and of their successors held by the Bechyně Švamberks together with members of related families. To this day, a torso has been preserved from the common necropolis of both families, albeit in a representative state: the tombs of Ladislav of Šternberk († 1521), Jan of Šternberk († 1528) and his wife Johana of Rýzmberk († 1529), and Kryštof of Švamberk († 1534) and his first wife Magdalena of Šelmberk († 1508). Most of the tombstones used red marble, probably from quarries in Adnet, except for the tombstone of Magdalena of Šelmberk, for which domestic pink marble, probably from a location in the Czech Barrandien, was used. The economic status of the customer was largely reflected here in the selection of the stone. The sculptural material - probably marble from the Adnet quarries - was disproportionately more expensive than stones from Czech quarries, including Slivenec marble, due both to its high quality and complicated transport from Austria. Adnet marble was traded briskly in the second half of the 15th and 16th centuries, especially in southern and southwestern Bohemia, as evidenced by analyses of some sepulchral works from these regions and archival sources.
The burial ground in the church of St. Nicholas in Němčice, being one of the largest preserved necropoleis of the lower nobility of late medieval Bohemia, differs from the Bechyně ensemble in its suspicious artistic quality and cheaper material of tombstones - granite. It clearly documents the prevailing lower level of sepulchral culture of the lower nobility at the end of the Middle Ages. In chronological order, there are the tombstones of Beneš (Benedikt) from Sedlec († 1483), Anežka from Heraltice († 1485), Markéta, aunt of Petr Kořenský from Terešov († 1492), Petr Kořenský from Terešov († 1493), squire Jiřík of Dub († 1502) and Voršila of Klinštejn († 1526). All the tombstones examined bear Latin or Czech inscriptions. The inscriptions run around the base of the stone with the font inwards or are parallel in the area of stone; the design technique for both necropoleis is limited to carving or relief engraving in a recessed inscription field. The font used is mostly a Gothic minuscule, but one early occurrence of Roman square capitals in both sets is worth mention in the Czech environment. The formats are predominantly the "Anno Domini" type consisting of three basic parts (dating, information on the deceased person, and a closing formula expressing the need to ensure prayers for the deceased), with the alternative missing the final formula (4 examples in Němčice) or an added reference to the place of burial in front. The dating of the day is according to the Christian calendar, while continuous dating is represented only by the inscription on the plaque of Jan of Šternberk in Bechyně. In Němčice, it is worth noting that most of the dating refers only to the year. In both localities, cases of a single "stoneworker's hand" can be found in the inscriptions, but the fonts are very different. The epigraphic aspect of the tombstones of both burial grounds thus lies, in principle, still deep in the late medieval tradition with the exception of the Roman square capitals on the tombstone of Magdalena of Šelmberk. Nevertheless, we can find fundamental qualitative differences in favor of the Bechyně necropolis. The quality of writing is disproportionately more formal, although not always necessarily genetic, and very high-quality craftsmanship in the inscriptions and the evidently conscious adoption of some more advanced elements can be noted, including from the South German and Upper Austrian regions. Last but not least, greater homogeneity and higher forms of external features are visible; this is probably related to the possibility of (logically) a narrower range of quality stonemasons or workshops. Undoubtedly, the financial possibilities of the customer also played a large role in the choice of material, where marble enables more precise work than granite. In Němčice (and even more so in Bechyně), the concept and execution of scripts accompanied, with the exception of the final specification of the text, seems to be more a matter of the workshops and creator than of the patrons. Regarding both the artistic aspect of the examined tombstones and their epigraphic aspect, the social status of the clients is clearly differentiable, with more precise conclusions being made possible by the testimony of the preserved ensemble of tombstones as a whole.

Keywords: sepulchral sculpture, epigraphy, burial ground, Bechyně, Němčice, 15th - 16th centuries

Published: June 1, 2020  Show citation