Crucificion Scene at Saint Kinga’s Chapel at the Wieliczka Salt Mine
I was surprised to see how large the underground chapel was. Then again, this place has been mined out of rock salt over several hundred years, it is not surprising that they managed to make a chamber that large. There were numerous sculptures all around the chapel. Sometimes they would just be carved out of the rock without actually being full figures much like bas relief. Some would be actual statues of religious figures. I enjoyed looking at these works of art. It is a pity that they are not in color but I think it is better that they are all gray.
Bas Relief of the Last Supper at Saint Kinga’s Chapel
I have no knowledge in sculpting, much less rock salt sculpting but I think it must have been very difficult to carve these figures. They have been carved from the walls of the chamber and I can’t imagine how costly a mistake would have been. Did they have to do the entire place or just make the chamber bigger? Perhaps, that is why the chamber was so big in the first place. There wasn’t anyone who could answer this question, so I just leave it to my imagination as to why this is so. The chapel is large enough to accommodate several groups of people but it never felt crowded. I think this because they control the number of people visiting the salt mine so there are never too many people at a time.
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