Processional Canopies from the 17th and 18th Centuries Preserved on the Area of Lesser Poland

Abstract

During 17th and 18th centuries processional canopies took a form of a decorative canopy usually made of fabric stretched on a frame, attached to ornamental poles. As a result, this construction enabled people to carry those canopies. First of all, processional canopies were used during theophoric processions. Such canopies were usually made of non-durable materials, and, therefore, only a few of them are still preserved. Based on information provided in various archival sources as well as remaining examples of processional canopies, one can divide them, due to their shape, into two types.
The first type that is also the most numerous are canopies with a wooden or metal frame on a rectangular projection that is close to the square, with two or four poles. The second type are oval canopies in the shape of an umbrella, set on single poles, with an example of the 18th-century canopy in Bielany near Kęty.
In both types, the most important decorative element was fabric stretched on a frame that formed an inside ceiling of a canopy as well as its top, also forming its sides with a frill or pelmet. Generally, the inside ceiling and the top of the canopy were made of two different kinds of fabrics. The top of the canopy was usually flat, but there were examples of more dynamic forms, e.g. a canopy from the 2nd half of 18th century in Kacwina. Also, some decorative elements such as braids, laces, fringes, tapes, embroideries and tassels were used. Canopy poles were carved and painted. The best examples of a classic baroque canopy are the oldest remaining canopy in Lesser Poland dated approximately for 1663 in Polanka Wielka and a canopy made of the 17th-century fabric in the church of St. Anna in Kraków. Sometimes the top of a canopy was surrounded with openwork, a richly carved and gilded frame, such as a canopy from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century in Krzywaczka or in the church of St. Anna in Nowy Targ (2nd half of 18th century).
An interesting type of canopies were the canopies made entirely of wood and decorated with painted and gilded woodcarvings. The examples of such canopies include the canopies preserved in Spisz, in the church in Frydman (2nd half of 18th century), in Krempachy (2nd half of 18th century) and Trybsz and, last but the least, a well-known from archival photographs but currently non-existing canopy from the end of the 18th century in Łapsze Niżne. The most important decorative elements of these canopies are richly carved and gilded wooden frames with their tops made of fabric or plank.
The second type of canopies in the shape of an open and folded umbrella is represented by a currently non-existent 18th-century umbrella in Bielany near Kęty.
The canopies from the following two centuries mostly took a shape based on a simple wooden frame with a textile top and straight sides or on a form of a pelmet. Also, there are examples of canopies in which wood ­carvings are added to the textile elements.