Jagiellonian tapestries
Encyclopedia
The so-called Jagiellonian tapestries is collection of tapestries
which originally consisted of about 360 fabrics gathered by the Jagiellons
to decorate the interiors of the royal residencies. It is also known as the Wawel arrasses, as the majority of the preserved fabrics is in the possession of the Wawel Castle
Museum and the French city of Arras
was a large center of manufacturing of this kind of wall decoration in the beginning of the 16th century. The collection become a state property of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth according to the will of Sigismund II Augustus
.
as her wedding dowry
. Then in 1526 and 1533, Sigismund I the Old
ordered 108 fabrics in Antwerp and Bruges
. Most of the tapestries, however, were commissioned by king Sigismund II Augustus in Brussels
in the workshops of Willem and Jan de Kempeneer, Jan van Tieghem and Nicolas Leyniers between 1550-1565. Initially, there were about 360 tapesties in the royal collection, 84 black-and-white tapestries with the royal crest and the letters SA, 8 tapestries which Sigismund I the Old
had been received from the Emperor Maximilian I
, and others, gifts from foreign delegations. The gifts include one tapestry with the Polish eagle bearing the date 1560, the royal initials and the letters CKCH (Christophorus Krupski Capitaneus Horodlo) next to the Korczak coat of arms and the inscription SCABELLVM PEDVM TVORVM (the footstool under your feet, Psalm 110, A Psalm of David), a gift from Krzysztof Krupski, starost of Horodło for Sigismund Augustus. The tapestries had been displayed publicly for the first time during the wedding of king Sigismund Augustus with Catherine of Austria. To this day, preserved about 136 of which exposed are about 30. They were matched in size to the walls and some of them reach the size of 5 × 9 m (5.47 × 9.84 yd). The tapestries were made of wool strands, silk
and gold and woven on looms with a density of about 8 - 10 warp threads per centimeter.
Series consists of the following themes:
According to the will of the last Jagiellonian king the Flemish Arrases in gold or figured, together with those of simpler kind were given to the king's three sisters and after their death, they had become the property of the State Treasury, under the custody of the Commonwealth's parliament
to serve the public good of the Commonwealth and not for private benefit of future kings (fragment of the Diet's resolution).
Unfortunately, the not quite precise will became a cause of many conflicts over ownership of the tapesties between the kings and nobles. The whole collection only for a short time was gathered at the Castle in Tykocin
till 1572. Then the king's sisters scattered it between their residences in Kraków
, Niepołomice, Warsaw
, Vilnius
and Hrodna
, and even sent some to Sweden
. The king Sigismund III Vasa
brought back 30 fabrics that Anna Jagiellon
sent to Stockholm
to her sister Catherine (Sigismund's mother). In 1633, three of the tapestries with scenes from the Story of Moses, were presented by Jerzy Ossoliński
, on behalf of king Władysław IV Vasa
, to Pope Urban VIII
. During the Deluge the collection was hidden by Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski
in his estates in Spiš
. In the following years the king John II Casimir Vasa mortgaged 157 tapestries to a merchant from Gdańsk
, Jan Gratta, without the consent of parliament. In order to force the lifetime wages after his abdication
the king also took some of the tapestries to France
. This caused protests from the nobility and the king's debt was not repaid until 1724. The parliament submitted the tapestries for safekeeping in the Warsaw's Carmelite convent
and for the last time they were displayed during the coronation of king Stanisław Augustus in 1764. After the major reconstruction of the Warsaw Royal Castle
's interiors in the neoclassical style the king ordered new tapestries in France and the Jagiellonian collection was rolled up and stored in the building of the Treasury Committee - Palace of the Republic. According to an inventory performed during the reign of Stanisław Augustus there were about 156 arrasses. In 1795, after the Third Partition of Poland
, the tapestries along with other goods plundered from the royal residencies, were taken by Alexander Suvorov
to Russia
.
After regaining independence and victorious war with the Soviet Union the Polish government managed to recover 136 fabrics, in various states of preservation, between 1922-1924. The tapesties were cut to fit the walls of the Winter Palace
and Gatchina Palace
, or they were used as furniture upholstery. Some of them are still in Russia, displayed in different museums, without specifying their origin, the Soviets claimed that the tapestries are equivalent for the Polish debts. When the Second World War
broke out in 1939, the tapestries stored at Wawel Castle were transported through Romania
, France and England to Canada
to be finally returned, after 15 years of negotiations, to the People's Republic of Poland
in the 1960s. In 1961, when the royal collection was coming back from a long journey it was greeted by the Sigismund Bell and the Kraków inhabitants. Today 136 fabrics are owned by the Wawel Royal Castle (2 of them, Forest landscape with a deer and a duck catching fish and the Forest landscape with a deer and giraffes by Nicolas Leyniers, are displayed in the Warsaw Royal Castle), the Moral fall of the humanity before the deluge, returned to Poland in 1977 as a gift from the Soviet Union, it is in the Royal Castle in Warsaw and one of the missing, which appeared on the antique market in the 1950s and was purchased by the Rijksmuseum
in Amsterdam
.
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
which originally consisted of about 360 fabrics gathered by the Jagiellons
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
to decorate the interiors of the royal residencies. It is also known as the Wawel arrasses, as the majority of the preserved fabrics is in the possession of the Wawel Castle
Wawel Castle
The Gothic Wawel Castle in Kraków in Poland was built at the behest of Casimir III the Great and consists of a number of structures situated around the central courtyard. In the 14th century it was rebuilt by Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland. Their reign saw the addition of the tower called the Hen's...
Museum and the French city of Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
was a large center of manufacturing of this kind of wall decoration in the beginning of the 16th century. The collection become a state property of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth according to the will of Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
.
History and components
The first tapestries were brought by queen Bona SforzaBona Sforza
Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...
as her wedding dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. Then in 1526 and 1533, Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
ordered 108 fabrics in Antwerp and Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
. Most of the tapestries, however, were commissioned by king Sigismund II Augustus in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in the workshops of Willem and Jan de Kempeneer, Jan van Tieghem and Nicolas Leyniers between 1550-1565. Initially, there were about 360 tapesties in the royal collection, 84 black-and-white tapestries with the royal crest and the letters SA, 8 tapestries which Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
had been received from the Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
, and others, gifts from foreign delegations. The gifts include one tapestry with the Polish eagle bearing the date 1560, the royal initials and the letters CKCH (Christophorus Krupski Capitaneus Horodlo) next to the Korczak coat of arms and the inscription SCABELLVM PEDVM TVORVM (the footstool under your feet, Psalm 110, A Psalm of David), a gift from Krzysztof Krupski, starost of Horodło for Sigismund Augustus. The tapestries had been displayed publicly for the first time during the wedding of king Sigismund Augustus with Catherine of Austria. To this day, preserved about 136 of which exposed are about 30. They were matched in size to the walls and some of them reach the size of 5 × 9 m (5.47 × 9.84 yd). The tapestries were made of wool strands, silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and gold and woven on looms with a density of about 8 - 10 warp threads per centimeter.
Series consists of the following themes:
- Biblical scenesBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
- scenes from the Story of the First Parents, the Story of Noah and the Story of Tower of Babel (inventory number of the Wawel Museum 1 - 18), the Story of Moses, the Story of Absalom the Story of Nebuchadnezzar and the Story of Saul (scattered), created according to design by Michiel Coxie - biblical scenes, fillets by an unknown artist from the circle of painters Cornelis Floris and Cornelis BosCornelis BosCornelis [Willem] Bos was a Flemish engraver, printseller and book publisher, through whose images after paintings and reproducing ancient Roman sculptures, like the Laocoön, classic works were put in the visual repertory of Northern European artists...
, - Mythological scenesMythologyThe term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
- scenes from the Trojan War, the Military expeditions of the Persian king Cyrus, the Story of Romulus and Remus, the Story of Scipio, the Story of Hannibal, the Story of Julius Caesar and the Story of Octavian Augustus (scattered), - landscapeLandscapeLandscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
and animal scenes (verdure) (inventory number of the Wawel Museum 19 - 78) created around 1560, according to design by an unknown artist from the circle of Pieter Coecke van AelstPieter van AelstPieter van Aelst or Pieter Coecke van Aelst was a Flemish painter. He studied under Bernaert van Orley and later lived in Italy before entering the Antwerp Guild of painters in 1527. In 1533, he travelled to Constantinople for one year in a failed attempt to establish business connections for...
(sometimes associated with Willem Tons), - grotesqueGrotesqueThe word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...
scenes with the coats of arms of PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and the royal initials (inventory number of the Wawel Museum 79 - 134/2) created around 1560, according to design by an unknown artist from the circle of painters Cornelis Floris and Cornelis Bos, three grotesque (inventory number 92, 93, 94) were based on drawings by Cornelis Bos.
According to the will of the last Jagiellonian king the Flemish Arrases in gold or figured, together with those of simpler kind were given to the king's three sisters and after their death, they had become the property of the State Treasury, under the custody of the Commonwealth's parliament
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
to serve the public good of the Commonwealth and not for private benefit of future kings (fragment of the Diet's resolution).
Tykocin Castle
The Tykocin Royal Castle is a 15th century castle located on the right bank of the river Narew in Tykocin, Poland. It fell into ruin in the 18th century and its reconstruction began in 2002.-History:...
till 1572. Then the king's sisters scattered it between their residences in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Niepołomice, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
and Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
, and even sent some to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The king Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
brought back 30 fabrics that Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon was queen of Poland from 1575 to 1586. She was the daughter of Poland's King Sigismund I the Old, and the wife of Stephen Báthory. She was elected, along with her then fiance, Báthory, as co-ruler in the second election of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
sent to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
to her sister Catherine (Sigismund's mother). In 1633, three of the tapestries with scenes from the Story of Moses, were presented by Jerzy Ossoliński
Jerzy Ossolinski
Prince Jerzy Ossoliński was a Polish szlachcic, Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, voivode of Sandomierz from 1636, Reichsfürst since 1634, Crown Deputy Chancellor from 1639, Great Crown Chancellor from 1643, starost of Bydgoszcz , Lubomel , Puck and Bolim , magnate, politician and diplomat...
, on behalf of king Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648....
, to Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
. During the Deluge the collection was hidden by Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski
Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski
Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski was a Polish noble , magnate, outstanding politician and military commander. Lubomirski was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire SRI. He was the initiator of the Lubomirski Rokosz....
in his estates in Spiš
Spiš
Spiš is a region in north-eastern Slovakia, with a very small area in south-eastern Poland. Spiš is an informal designation of the territory , but it is also the name of one the 21 official tourism regions of Slovakia...
. In the following years the king John II Casimir Vasa mortgaged 157 tapestries to a merchant from Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, Jan Gratta, without the consent of parliament. In order to force the lifetime wages after his abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
the king also took some of the tapestries to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. This caused protests from the nobility and the king's debt was not repaid until 1724. The parliament submitted the tapestries for safekeeping in the Warsaw's Carmelite convent
Carmelite Church, Warsaw
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and of St. Joseph commonly known as the Carmelite Church is a Roman Catholic church at Krakowskie Przedmieście 52/54 in Warsaw, Poland....
and for the last time they were displayed during the coronation of king Stanisław Augustus in 1764. After the major reconstruction of the Warsaw Royal Castle
Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...
's interiors in the neoclassical style the king ordered new tapestries in France and the Jagiellonian collection was rolled up and stored in the building of the Treasury Committee - Palace of the Republic. According to an inventory performed during the reign of Stanisław Augustus there were about 156 arrasses. In 1795, after the Third Partition of Poland
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland or Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1795 as the third and last of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Background:...
, the tapestries along with other goods plundered from the royal residencies, were taken by Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov , Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy, Count of the Holy Roman Empire , was the fourth and last generalissimo of the Russian Empire.One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along with the likes of Alexander...
to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
After regaining independence and victorious war with the Soviet Union the Polish government managed to recover 136 fabrics, in various states of preservation, between 1922-1924. The tapesties were cut to fit the walls of the Winter Palace
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...
and Gatchina Palace
Gatchina Palace
The Great Gatchina Palace was built in 1766–1781 in Gatchina town by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov who was a favourite of Ekaterina II. The Gatchina Palace is located on the hill above Lake Serebryannoe. It combines themes of a medieval castle and a country residence....
, or they were used as furniture upholstery. Some of them are still in Russia, displayed in different museums, without specifying their origin, the Soviets claimed that the tapestries are equivalent for the Polish debts. When the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out in 1939, the tapestries stored at Wawel Castle were transported through Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, France and England to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to be finally returned, after 15 years of negotiations, to the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
in the 1960s. In 1961, when the royal collection was coming back from a long journey it was greeted by the Sigismund Bell and the Kraków inhabitants. Today 136 fabrics are owned by the Wawel Royal Castle (2 of them, Forest landscape with a deer and a duck catching fish and the Forest landscape with a deer and giraffes by Nicolas Leyniers, are displayed in the Warsaw Royal Castle), the Moral fall of the humanity before the deluge, returned to Poland in 1977 as a gift from the Soviet Union, it is in the Royal Castle in Warsaw and one of the missing, which appeared on the antique market in the 1950s and was purchased by the Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or simply Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.