Barbara Jagiellon was a good mother and wife, after whose death her distraught husband had beautiful commemorations prepared. Looking back over the centuries, she is the great-grandmother of famous European kings.

Barbara Jagiellonka's tombstone as described by J.I. Kraszewski

This description can be found in a once popular book by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Wizerunki książąt i królów polskich , and was included in the chapter on Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk:

Barbara Jagiellonka, daughter of Casimir, wife of George son of Albert Duke of Saxony Margrave of Meissen, called Bearded (married at eighteen in 1496), has two contemporary images in Meissen. She died in 1534. George and Barbara are buried there in a separate chapel. Above the outer door a bas-relief depicting the entombment, below it a coat of arms with the Jagiellonian eagle. Inscription: "Domine Deus nostri miserere". Inside, in the floor, two bronze plaques with life-size figures of George and Barbara. George in armour, Barbara in a robe. On the monument next to the titles and dates: "Geborene aus königlichen Stamm Polen". On the wall, a painting by Lucas Cranach, consisting of three parts. On the middle one a photograph from the cross. - On the left wing, Prince George kneeling, with bald head, black moustache and beard, wearing black clothes, with a chain of the golden Fleece on his chest. On the other wing is Barbara, a rather obese figure, her face flushed.

The author of The Old Tale lived in Dresden for six years (more about this period and the museum named after him in the polonica of the week Museum of Jozef Ignacy Kraszewski in Dresden ) and was less than 30 km from Meissen, where the tomb of the Polish royal is located. The writer arrived in Dresden in 1873, when the city had already been connected to Leipzig for three decades by a railway line, on whose route Meissen was also located. Presumably, therefore, he visited the Gothic temple more than once. If so, he could not have failed to visit Prince George's chapel, where the aforementioned artefacts and polonica are on display. The description quoted above perfectly illustrates the interior of the chapel.

The architecture of Meissen Cathedral - cross vaults

The entrance to the Cathedral of St. John and St. Donatus in Meissen is located under the arcade. Above our heads are the cross vaults, known as crystal vaults or, in German, Zellengewölbe (not to be confused with the traditional ribbed vaults), which are typical of Saxon late Gothic architecture and rarely seen elsewhere. Their appearance was most likely the result of technological innovations.

The Meissen church meets with the castle of the Electors' Dukes, the Albrechtsburg, and it is this building that is cited as a model example of a Zellengewölbe, although they can also be found in St. Mary's Church in Danzig. Further on, we pass the main nave - the austere, Protestant interior is extremely impressive. We reach the Ducal Chapel. In this undoubtedly the most beautiful part of the cathedral, the bodies of the Saxon electors were laid to rest between 1440 and 1539. Here, too, is the portico we read about in Kraszewski; the Polish eagle is not hard to find. Entering through it, it leads to a smaller room, called the George Chapel, where Barbara Jagiellon and her husband, the last Catholic ruler of the Electorate of Saxony, were buried.

The royal tombstones of Barbara and George

Two slabs have been placed inside the chapel. The one lying off the wall is above the tomb of George, who died five years after his wife, in 1539. The inner one, closer to the passage, is laid over the tomb of Barbara. Both depict the central figures of the deceased, their family coats of arms, and are decorated with floral ornaments. They differ in relief: the ducal panel is more plastic and the figure is more prominent.

The image of Barbara is much less convex, most likely a different technique was used here, probably forging, and even in good light it is not easy to see what it represents. Undoubtedly, the princess is in a delicious 'shuba', or ornate garment, lined with fur. The passage of time has somewhat obscured Barbara's head and to younger visitors her depiction may bring to mind one of the characters from Star Wars . Here an engraving illustrating a tombstone from the collection of the 19th-century Russian diarist Filipp Weigl (Vigel), held in the library of Moscow University, comes to the rescue.

The George Chapel also houses a triptych by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The central part of the work depicts the Sorrowful Christ, the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist, with a cluster of angels clustered above them. On the left wing (facing the viewer), as we already know, is the figure of the 'bald' and bearded George, and on the right wing - Barbara Jagiellon. It should be added that the apostles James and Peter stand behind the prince, while the princess is supported by St Andrew and St Paul. The painting, executed in 1534 and intended for the chapel, was marked with the signature of a winged serpent characteristic of Lucas Cranach the Elder. A painting three years later also depicting Barbara has an analogous signature. It must have been commissioned by her grief-stricken husband; sources confirm that he loved his Polish wife and survived her death. Today, the painting is exhibited in Berlin, although its odyssey is a separate topic, as it was in Wrocław before 1945.

Barbara Jagiellon - an ancestress of the greats of this world

Meissen is a frequent destination for Polish tourists, but is the tomb of the Jagiellonian princess a must-see ? The story of the Jagiellonian Queen has been rather unfairly covered in the dust of history. The wedding of her elder sister Jadwiga to George the Rich in 1475 echoed throughout the whole of Europe at the time, and the memory of it is still cherished to this day (more in the Polish section of the week about Jadwiga Jagiellonka in Landshut ), and yet her marriage in 1496 was also a lavish affair; 5,000 guests were entertained for five days.

Little is also known about Barbara's own biography. Perhaps this is because she was a fulfilled wife and mother. Although it should be noted that these roles were marked by trauma, as she gave birth to 10 children, of whom, unfortunately, at least six died prematurely. On the other hand, her two daughters, Krystyna and Magdalena, became the protoplasts of the greats of this world. Knowing this, let us take another look at the polonica in the chapel. Uwieczniona na nich kobieta to pra-, pra-, pra-, pra-, pra-, praprababka osobistości znanych z pierwszych stron gazet. Among others, we could mention the King of Belgium, Philip I of Coburg, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henry of Bourbon, the Prince of Liechtenstein, John Adam II, King Charles XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Philip VI of Spain, King Harald V of Norway, Prince Albert II of Monaco and - last but not least - Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.