Page:Cracow - Lepszy.djvu/150

by the Florentine master, Francesco della Lora, in the years 1510-1516, and adapted to the uniform ground-plan of the arcade court. Delia Lora left Florence in 1509, and came to Cracow with six assistants. Sigismund I assigned the sum of 30,000 ducats a year for the building of the new palace; besides, he put a great number of Tartar captives at the disposal of the builders for manual labour. The northern wing of the court was the first to be ready and connected with the western one; in 1516, however, the architect died. In the next year his place was taken by an equally eminent master, Bartolomeo Berecci, who continued work on the eastern and northern parts of the building in accordance with the plans of della Lora. In this he was assisted from 1522 by the Florentine sculptor and architect, Nicolò Castiglione, who died at Cracow in 1545. Finally, on July 21, 1530, the foundation for the last wing, the southern one, was laid. But when the whole palace was completed, in 1536, a fire broke out and destroyed the work of della Lora, viz., the eastern and northern parts of the castle. The indefatigable King Sigismund instantly ordered the parts burnt down to be restored by Berecci, but unfortunately the great artist was soon afterwards assassinated by an Italian. Nevertheless the work was continued under the reign of the following King Sigismund Augustus. It was not till the middle of the sixteenth century that the magnificent Renascence structure was finished. It was unanimously admired and highly praised by all foreigners who visited Cracow and recorded their impressions. Round the imposing square arcade courtyard, with its two stories supported by exquisite slender columns, there are galleries running which are distinguished by easy gracefulness of structure and very original moulding of the wall spaces (illustration 56). These latter show threefold windows, and doors with stone frames, which are partly in pure Renascence style, partly in a mixture of Gothic and Renascence, giving to the ornamentation a peculiarly local character. The abundance and variety of architectonic lines gives a particular charm to the whole. From the lintels the spectator is greeted by Latin sentences. Within there is an