Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa (fragment), 1673-1675, Saint-Germain-des-Prés church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa, 1673-1675, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Jean Thibaut, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa, 1673-1675, marble, bronze, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, License terms and conditions
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, License terms and conditions
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa (fragment), 1673-1675, marble, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, License terms and conditions
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, License terms and conditions
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, License terms and conditions
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Jean Thibaut, fragment of the sarcophagus of John Casimir Vasa depicting the Battle of Beresteczko, 1673-1675, Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Plaque on the heart tomb of King John Casimir Vasa, Saint-Germain-des-Prés church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Jean Thibaut, fragment of the sarcophagus of John Casimir Vasa depicting the Battle of Beresteczko, 1673-1675, Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Source: Instytut Polonika, License terms and conditions
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
Interior of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 11th century, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Source: Instytut Polonika
Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris
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ID: POL-001950-P/160538

Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris

ID: POL-001950-P/160538

Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris

John II Casimir Vasa (1609-1672) arrived in France after his abdication in 1668 and was given the title of abbot of one of the oldest monasteries in Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Près. A welcome ceremony at the abbey took place on 17 November 1669. After his death in 1672, his body was buried in Wawel Cathedral and his heart in the abbey's church. The magnificent Parisian monument was commissioned by his widow, Louise Marie Gonzaga (1611-1667), and created by the excellent sculptors Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, who worked at Versailles, among others. It was their most important work outside of royal patronage. They were court sculptors to the French king and are known for their numerous works found in the Tuileries Palace and Versailles in Paris, among others. The wall-mounted monument with the kneeling figure of the deceased on a sarcophagus, among panoplies, was originally flanked by the figures of two captives. The king is shown laying down the insignia of power, facing the altar (not preserved from the original chapel furnishings). The background is a carved curtain. The design of this monument, which ranks among the masterpieces of French sepulchral sculpture, is sometimes associated with Charles Le Brun, court painter and decorator to Louis XIV, who collaborated with the Marse brothers. Le Brun's drawing shows a composition very close to the executed monument. The author of the large relief in the chapel (about 2 m wide) depicting the royal victory at Beresteczko was the monastery sculptor Jean Thiebaut.

The composition of the monument, contained in a semi-circular niche, the upper part of which is revealed by a gaping curtain of yellowish-brown marble, consists of two parts. The statue of the kneeling king handing over the insignia of power is made of white marble. The lower part of the monument, in the form of a sarcophagus made of black marble, is filled with a bronze bas-relief depicting the Battle of Beresteczko, in which John Casimir was victorious over the Cossack-Tartar troops.

The monument was damaged during the French Revolution, and the sarcophagus with the heart was ransacked then. Two figures of Turkic prisoners of war, located below the sarcophagus, angels holding a curtain, and a plaque depicting the Battle of Beresteczko disappeared. The sarcophagus itself is said to have survived thanks to the intervention of French archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir, who had it moved to the Musée des monuments français, created in the former Augustinian monastery and opened to the public in 1795. The entire chapel, which originally also housed the altarpiece of St Casimir with a painting by Daniel Schultz (1615-1683) from Gdansk (the painter is said to have personally transported the painting to Paris around 1675), was also transformed after reconstruction in 1824. In 1927, a thorough restoration of the monument was carried out on the initiative of Kazimierz Woźnicki of the Polish Embassy in Paris. In 2010-2011, another conservation of the monument took place.

The original appearance of the composition of the monument is captured in engravings by Jean Marot from the late 17th century and by Nicolas Pigné from 1724. In 1912 the monument was painted by the Polish artist Konrad Krzyżanowski (painting lost).

Time of construction:

1673-1675

Creator:

Gaspard Marsy (rzeźbiarz; Francja), Balthazard Marsy (rzeźbiarz; Francja), Jean Thiebaut (rzeźbiarz; Francja)

Bibliography:

  • Barbara Stettner-Stefańska, Paryż po polsku, Warszawa 2001, s. 322-328
  • Ferdynand Hoesick, Paryż, Warszawa bd., s. 191-203 [tamże m.in. tekst inskrypcji łacińskiej]
  • Jolanta Chrzanowska-Pieńkos ,Andrzej Pieńkos, „Nagrobek Jana Kazimierza”, „Spotkania z Zabytkami”, 1996, nr 7, s. 31-32
  • Anna Sylwia Czyż, „O paryskim pomniku serca Jana Kazimierza. Recenzja książki Pawła Migasiewicza”, „Artifex Novus”, 2019, nr 3, s. 168-171
  • Piotr Hapanowicz, „Grobowiec króla Jana Kazimierza”, „Spotkania z Zabytkami”, 2012, nr 7-8, s. 56-58
  • Th. F. Hedin, „The Sculpture of G. and B. Marsy: art and patronage in the early reign of Louis XIX, with a catalogue raisonné”, University of Missouri 1983
  • Paweł Migasiewicz, „Nagrobek serca króla Jana Kazimierza w kościele Saint-Germain-des-Prés w Paryżu”, Warszawa 2019

Publication:

23.06.2024

Last updated:

03.06.2025

Author:

prof. Andrzej Pieńkos

Card update:

  • Bartłomiej Gutowski
see more Text translated automatically
Marble sculpture of King John II Casimir Vasa kneeling, holding a scepter and crown, against a backdrop of a draped curtain. The sculpture is part of the monument in Paris dedicated to his heart. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa (fragment), 1673-1675, Saint-Germain-des-Prés church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Monument of King John II Casimir Vasa's heart in Paris. The sculpture shows the kneeling king in white marble, offering royal insignia, set in a semicircular niche with a brown marble curtain. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa, 1673-1675, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Monument of King John II Casimir Vasa's heart in Paris, featuring a kneeling white marble figure of the king on a black marble sarcophagus, surrounded by a draped curtain. Wooden chairs are arranged in front. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Jean Thibaut, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa, 1673-1675, marble, bronze, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Monument of King John II Casimir Vasa's heart in Paris. The sculpture shows the kneeling king in white marble, offering royal insignia, set against a backdrop of a draped curtain in a semicircular niche. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Monument of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris. The sculpture shows the king kneeling, holding a scepter and crown, surrounded by military symbols, with a draped curtain in the background. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Sculpture of King John II Casimir Vasa kneeling, holding a scepter and crown, with a draped curtain in the background. The statue is made of white marble, part of a monument in Paris. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, Tomb of the Heart of King John Casimir Vasa (fragment), 1673-1675, marble, Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Marble statue of King John II Casimir Vasa kneeling, holding a scepter and crown, part of a monument in Paris. The figure is detailed with curly hair and ornate clothing. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Close-up of a sculpted curtain in yellow-brown marble with gold fringe, part of the monument to King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Bronze relief depicting the Battle of Berestechko, with soldiers on horseback and foot, carrying spears and banners, in dynamic combat. The scene is part of the monument to King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Bronze relief depicting the Battle of Berestechko, featuring soldiers, horses, and a cannon amidst swirling smoke. Part of the monument to King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Jean Thibaut, fragment of the sarcophagus of John Casimir Vasa depicting the Battle of Beresteczko, 1673-1675, Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Plaque commemorating King John II Casimir Vasa, located in Paris. It features inscriptions in Polish and French, with a red shield displaying a white eagle above. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Plaque on the heart tomb of King John Casimir Vasa, Saint-Germain-des-Prés church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Bronze relief depicting the Battle of Berestechko, showing soldiers on horseback with lances and banners, part of the monument to King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Jean Thibaut, fragment of the sarcophagus of John Casimir Vasa depicting the Battle of Beresteczko, 1673-1675, Saint-Germain-des-Prés Church, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved
Marble plaque commemorating King John II Casimir Vasa, with inscriptions in Polish and French, located in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris. Features a red shield with a white eagle. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Gaspard i Balthasar Marsy, Jean Thiebaut, pomnik serca króla Jana Kazimierza Wazy , 1673-1675, marmury biały i czarny, częściowo złocone, piaskowiec, stiuk polichromowany, ołów patynowany, Paryż, kościół Saint-Germain-des-Près, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Interior of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, featuring ornate arches and stained glass windows. The altar is visible with a cross in the background. People are seated in the pews. Photo showing Monument to the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa in Paris Gallery of the object +13
Interior of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 11th century, Paris (France), photo Norbert Piwowarczyk, 2023, all rights reserved

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