Breslau Cabinet of Natural and Artificial Curiosities

nard: In the eighth, Saint John the Baptist baptizing Christ in the Jordan, with Zacharias and Elizabeth standing above, also from Rome; (for the ninth, see above.) In the tenth, Saint Wenceslaus; in the eleventh, Saint Mary Major of Rome; in the twelfth, Saint Hedwig, from Glogau; in the thirteenth, Saint Leopold and above, Saint Sigismund from Rome; in the fourteenth, Saint John Nepomucene by Mainard; who likewise depicted the Assumption of Saint Mary most skillfully in the lesser choir, as they call it. Near the presbytery, one sees a huge and almost incomparable panel made of metal for the altar painting, with the words inscribed: To the victory and glory of Saint Vincent, Francis Ursinus, Bishop of Nicopolis, Provost and Suffragan of Wrocław, had this made. It represents Saint Vincent on a gridiron, cast by Adrian de Fries. Opposite, there stands a similar panel showing the Assumption of Saint Mary, in silver relief work, which the Title: Most Full Lord Count Gotthard von Schaffgotsch, formerly Provost of the Canons, donated to this temple.

Similarly, the higher altar is made of solid silver, not excluding even the hinges and door frames. Bishop Andreas Jerinus spent 10,000 thalers on this, and consecrated it on May 4, 1591, after Paul Nitschius, a citizen and goldsmith of our city, had crafted it skillfully. In the middle stands an effigy of Christ nailed to the cross, of huge size, in silver, surrounded by many silver and gilded stars, together with Saint Mary and John standing by the cross. On the doors appear Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Vincent, and Saint Hedwig. Below is the expressed image of Bishop Jerinus, and opposite, his insignia, all of them indeed of gilded silver, invented and fashioned by Bernhard Eder, a Canon of this Basilica. The inscription has: "Andreas, Bishop of Wrocław, Supreme Captain of Silesia, had this altar cast from pure silver to serve as a monument of his piety toward God and his munificence toward the Church, at his own expense, A.D. 1590." It is the custom on this altar, on various feast days and the first Sundays of every month, to display a veil of the most skillful silver relief work made in Augsburg, which is placed as an antependium altar cloth or hanging before the altar. In particular, one can see in it a sumptuous and quite beautifully made Tabernacle, also constructed entirely of silver, which work was completed last year by Joseph Wolfgang Fessenmayer, Assessor of the Augsburg High Court and silversmith to the Electoral Court of Cologne and the Salzburg Court, a citizen and