Krivoklát Castle in the Czech Republic contains within it the Royal Chapel of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary, It is a quaint, intimate but impressive space. The castle itself was erected in the twelfth century for the kings of Bohemia. Nowadays the castle is a national historic monument and functions as a museum, but thankfully the beautiful chapel has been kept intact -- in fact, maybe precisely because it is a museum, it has.
While it was not the original chapel of the castle (which was originally dedicated to St. Wenceslas), what especially drew me to this second, late gothic chapel though was the intricate rib vaulting (or net vaulting) and most especially the splendid altarpiece which is dated to the Renaissance, fashioned sometime after 1490. Regrettably the artist(s) who executed this piece are unknown to us, but the work clearly has the stamp of a master of his craft.
The central image of the altarpiece is a carved scene showing the Coronation of the Virgin, surrounded by four paintings depicting the Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation and Adoration of the Magi. Of note, the gaze of the Virgin Mary is directed toward that spot in the chapel where the royal family would be seated.
Sitting atop it all is an image of Christ Resurrected and, to either side, two angels.
The altar proper itself is a simple but noble design, crafted in a light stone which has been topped by a red porphyry like coloured stone.
I'd be remiss to not note that the chapel also features a number of beautifully carved statues of the apostles, such as these two depicting St. Peter and St. Andrew.
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