Renaissance in Poland
Encyclopedia
The Renaissance in Poland lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellon dynasty
, the Kingdom of Poland (from 1569 known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
) actively participated in the broad European Renaissance
. The multi-national Polish state experienced a substantial period of cultural growth thanks in part to a century without major wars – aside from conflicts in the sparsely populated eastern and southern borderlands. The Reformation
spread peacefully throughout the country (giving rise to the Polish Brethren
), while living conditions improved, cities grew, and exports of agricultural products enriched the population, especially the nobility (szlachta
) who gained dominance in the new political system of Golden Liberty
.
movement, whose influence originated in Italy
, spread throughout Poland roughly in the 15th and 16th century. Many Italian artists arrived in the country welcomed by Polish royalty, including Francesco Fiorentino, Bartholommeo Berecci, Santi Gucci
, Mateo Gucci
, Bernardo Morando
, Giovanni Battista di Quadro
and others, including thinkers and educators such as Filip Callimachus
, merchants such as the Boner family and the Montelupis, and other prominent personalities who immigrated to Poland since the late 15th century in search of new opportunities. Most of them settled in Kraków
, the Polish capital until 1611.
The Renaissance values of the dignity of man and power of his reason were applauded in Poland. Many works were translated into Polish and Latin from classical Latin
, Greek
and Hebrew, as well as contemporary languages like Italian
. The Cracow Academy, one of the world's oldest universities, enjoyed its Golden Era between 1500 and 1535, with 3,215 students graduating in the first decade of the 16th century – a record not surpassed until the late 18th century. The period of Polish Renaissance, supportive of intellectual pursuits, produced many outstanding artists and scientists. Among them were Nicolaus Copernicus
who in his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
presented the heliocentric
theory of the universe, Maciej of Miechów, author of Tractatus de duabus Sarmatis... – the most accurate up to date geographical
and ethnographical
account of Eastern Europe
; Bernard Wapowski
, a cartographer whose maps of that region appeared in Ptolemy
's Geography; Marcin Kromer
who in his De origine et rebus gestis Polonorum libri... described both the history
and geography of Poland
; Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
, a philosopher concerned with governance
; Mikołaj Rej who has popularized the use of Polish language
in poetry; and Jan Kochanowski
, whose poems in Polish language elevated him to the ranks of the most prominent Slavic poets.
Young Poles, especially sons of nobility (szlachta
), who graduated from any one of over 2,500 parish
schools, gymnasiums
and several academies (Cracow Academy, Wilno Academy, Zamość Academy), often traveled abroad to complete their education. Polish thinkers, like Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Johannes Dantiscus or Jan Łaski maintained contacts with leading European philosophers of the Renaissance, such as Thomas More
, Erasmus and Philip Melanchthon. Poland not only partook in the exchange of major cultural and scientific ideas and developments of Western Europe, but also spread Western heritage
eastwards among East Slavic nations. For example, printing
process, Latin language and art with the syllabic versification in poetry
, especially in Belarus
and Ukraine
(through Kyiv-Mohyla Academy), from where it was transmitted to Russia
(Duchy of Moscow), which began to increase its ties with western Europe in the aftermath of the Mongol invasion of Rus
. The first four printed Cyrillic books in the world were published in Kraków, in 1491, by printer Szwajpolt Fiol.
Incentives for development of art and architecture
were many. King Sigismund I the Old
, who ascended to the throne in 1507, was a sponsor of many artists, and begun a major project - under Florence architect Bartolommeo Berrecci
- of remaking the ancient residence of the Polish kings, the Wawel Castle
, into a modern Renaissance residence. Sigismund's zeal for Renaissance was matched not only by his son, Sigismund II Augustus
, but by many wealthy nobles and burghers who also desired to display their wealth, influence and cultural savvy. In 1578, chancellor
Jan Zamoyski
begun construction of the ideal Renaissance city
, sponsoring the creation of Zamość
(a city named after him), which soon became an important administrative, commercial and educational town of Renaissance Poland. Two largest contemporary Polish cities - Kraków (which attracted many Italian architects) and Gdańsk
(which attracted mostly architects from Germany and the Netherlands) - likely gained the most in the era, but many other cities also spotted new Renaissance constructions.
Renaissance painting was introduced in Poland by many immigrant artists, like Lucas Cranach
, Hans Dürer
and Hans von Kulmbach
, and practiced by such Polish painters as Marcin Kober
(a court painter of king Stefan Batory
). The works of the portraitists created an impressive gallery, particularly representative of those who could afford to be immortalized in them.
The centre of musical culture was the royal residence at Kraków, where the royal court welcomed many foreign and local performers. The most significant works of the Renaissance in Poland include compositions, usually for lute
and organ
s, both vocal and instrumental, from dances, through polyphonic music, to religious oratorio
s and mass
es. In 1540 by Jan of Lublin released the Tablature, in which he collected most known European organ pieces. Nicolaus Cracoviensis
(Mikołaj of Kraków) composed many masses, motets, songs, dances and preludes. Mikołaj Gomółka was the author of musical rendition of Kochanowski's poems (Melodies for the Polish Psalter). The most famous Polish composer was Wacław z Szamotuł, recognized as one of the outstanding Renaissance composers.
The first printing press
was set up in Kraków in 1473 by the German printer Kasper Straube
of Bavaria
. Between 1561 and 1600, seventeen printing houses in Poland published over 120 titles a year, with an average edition of 500 copies. The first complete translation of the Bible
into Polish was made in 1561 by Jan Leopolita (Leopolita's Bible). About that time, the first Polish orthographic
dictionary was published (by Stanisław Murzynowski, 1551); grammars and dictionaries also proliferated. The Polish Renaissance was bilingual, the szlachta
s speech being a mixture of Polish and Latin, and various authors oscillating among Polish, Latin, and a mixture of the two (Macaronic language
).
Literature has progressed beyond being dominated by religious themes. They were still present, as seen in numerous bible translations, the most famous being the Wujek's Bible by Jakub Wujek
, published in 1599. The nobility, however, cared about more than just religious themes, and the works of Polish renaissance reflected their material and spiritual values (see sarmatism
). Contemporary poetry extolled the virtue of manorial
life. For example, Rej celebrated life and the position of country's noble, while Kochanowski wrote about the pleasures and beauty of life in the countryside, surrounded by nature. Literary forms varied, from ode
, pastoral
s and sonnet
s to elegy
, satire
and romance
.
In applied sciences, scholars of the period include Jan Łaski (John Lasco), evangelical reformer, Maciej of Miechów (Maciej Miechowita), writer and university teacher, Nicolaus Copernicus
, astronomer known in Polish as Mikołaj Kopernik, Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (Laurentius Grimaldius Gosliscius), political thinker and philosopher; Marcin Kromer
, writer and geographer; Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
, writer and philosopher; Piotr Skarga
, Jesuit political reformer; Józef Struś, doctor, scientist, mayor of Poznań; and many others.
Among the most prominent Polish Renaissance writers and artists, whose accomplishments have become a salient part of Polish curriculum is poet Mikołaj Rej, poet Jan Kochanowski
, poet Szymon Szymonowic
, poet Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński, writer Łukasz Górnicki, poet Andrzej Krzycki
, poet Johannes Dantiscus, composer Wacław z Szamotuł, composer and singer Mikołaj Gomółka, and painter Marcin Kober
. The artists and architects who settled into Poland and had achieved considerable recognition for their work in the country are: Hans Dürer
, Hans (Süss) von Kulmbach, Mateo Gucci
, Santi Gucci
, Bartholommeo Berecci, Bernardo Morando
, Giovanni Battista di Quadro
and others.
is divided into three main periods: The first period (1500–1550) is often called "Italian", because most of the Renaissance buildings in this time were built by Italian architects invited by Polish nobility mainly from Florence
. During the second period (1550–1600), Renaissance style became common, and included influences from Dutch
version of the Reinessance as well as beginnings of the Mannerist style. In the third period (1600–1650), Mannerism became popular, with first notable examples of Baroque (see also, Baroque in Poland
).
In 1499 Wawel Castle
was partially consumed by fire. King Alexander Jagiellon
in 1504 appointed Eberhard Rosemberger as the main architect for the renovation. Later, he was replaced by Italian-born Francesco Florentino and, after his death, by Bartolomeo Berrecci and by Benedykt of Sandomierz. As a result of their work the Royal Castle was transformed into a Renaissance residence in Florentine style. In the same period other castles and residences were built or rebuilt in the new style, including Drzewica
(built in 1527–1535), Szydłowiec (rebuilt 1509–1532), Ogrodzieniec
(rebuilt 1532–1547) and most notably, Pieskowa Skała, rebuilt 1542–1580.
In the first period of the Polish Renaissance, churches were still build mostly in the Gothic style. In this time, only new chapels surrounding the old churches were sometimes build in the new style. The most prominent of them, the Sigismund's Chapel
at the Wawel Cathedral
, was built in 1519–33 by Bartolomeo Berecci.
and in Danzig
(Gdańsk), worked a large group of Dutch-born artists. Renaissance style in other parts of Poland varied under local conditions, producing different substyles in each region. Also, some elements of the new Manierist style were present. Architecture of this period is divided into three regional substyles: "Italian" – mostly in the southern part of Poland, with the most famous artist there being Santi Gucci. The "Dutch" – mostly in Pomerania
; and, the "Kalisz
-Lublin
style" or "The Lublin Renaissance" in central Poland – with most notable examples built in Lublin
and Kazimierz Dolny
.
All over Poland, new castles were constructed, bearing the new quadrilateral shape enclosing a courtyard, and with four towers at the corners. Prominent examples include: the castle at Płakowice (16th century), the castle at Brzeg
, (rebuilt from a Gothic stronghold in 1544–60), the castle at Niepołomice (rebuilt after a fire in 1550–71), the castle at Baranów Sandomierski
(built in 1591–1606 by Santi Gucci), and the castle at Krasiczyn
.
Many cities erected new buildings in the Renaissance style. New Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)
in Kraków was built. City halls were built or rebuilt in: Tarnów
, Sandomierz
, Chełm (demolished) and in Poznań
. Also, entire towns were often redesigned. Examples of Renaissance urban planning survived into modern times in Szydłowiec and Zamość
.
Examples of Pomeranian Renaissance which developed under the influence of Northern Europe rather than Italy were: Green Gate in Gdańsk (built in 1564–1568 by Hans Kramer); Upland Gate in Gdańsk (Willem van den Blocke finished it in 1588); Great Arsenal in Gdańsk (built in 1602–1606 by Anton van Obberghen); and the Old City Hall in Gdańsk (built in 1587–1595, probably by Anton van Obberghen).
Characteristic laicization of life during Renaissance and Reformation resulted in only minor development in sacral architecture. Mainly chapels were being built in the Renaissance style, but some churches were also rebuilt including: Cathedral in Płock (rebuilt after fire by architects Zanobi de Gianotis, Cini, Filippo di Fiesole and later again by Giovanni Battista di Quadro
); and, the Collegiate in Pułtusk (rebuilt by John Batista of Venice). Only a few new churches were founded, such as the collegiate church
of St. Thomas in Zamość
.
and the moving of the capital to Warsaw
in 1596 halted the development of Renaissance in Kraków, as well as in Gdańsk. Also, the rising power of the Jesuits and the Counterreformation gave impetus to the development of Mannerist architecture and a new style – the Baroque
(see also, Baroque in Poland
). The most important example of the ascending Mannerist architecture in Poland is a complex of houses in Kazimierz Dolny
and in Zamość
.
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...
, the Kingdom of Poland (from 1569 known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
) actively participated in the broad European Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
. The multi-national Polish state experienced a substantial period of cultural growth thanks in part to a century without major wars – aside from conflicts in the sparsely populated eastern and southern borderlands. The Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
spread peacefully throughout the country (giving rise to the Polish Brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
), while living conditions improved, cities grew, and exports of agricultural products enriched the population, especially the nobility (szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
) who gained dominance in the new political system of Golden Liberty
Golden Liberty
Golden Liberty , sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth refers to a unique aristocratic political system in the Kingdom of Poland and later, after the Union of Lublin , in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
.
Overview
The RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
movement, whose influence originated in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, spread throughout Poland roughly in the 15th and 16th century. Many Italian artists arrived in the country welcomed by Polish royalty, including Francesco Fiorentino, Bartholommeo Berecci, Santi Gucci
Santi Gucci
Santi Gucci was a Polish-Italian architect and sculptor.-Biography:He moved to Poland after 1550, most probably from Florence, and became the court artist of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, his queen consort Anna Jagiellonka and his successor Stefan Batory of Poland...
, Mateo Gucci
Mateo Gucci
Mateo Gucci was a Polish-Italian Renaissance architect and sculptor.He rebuilt the Old Synagogue in the Kraków suburb of Kazimierz, and he may have worked on the Wawel Castle. He is believed to have died in 1550, according to the town books of Kraków...
, Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando, also known as Bernardino or Morandi was a Polish-Italian architect. He is notable as the author of a new town of Zamość, modelled on Renaissance theories of the 'ideal city'....
, Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro was a Polish-Italian renaissance architect, one of the most famous architects in Central Europe in his epoque....
and others, including thinkers and educators such as Filip Callimachus
Filip Callimachus
Filippo Buonaccorsi, called "Callimachus" was an Italian humanist and writer.-Life:...
, merchants such as the Boner family and the Montelupis, and other prominent personalities who immigrated to Poland since the late 15th century in search of new opportunities. Most of them settled 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...
, the Polish capital until 1611.
The Renaissance values of the dignity of man and power of his reason were applauded in Poland. Many works were translated into Polish and Latin from classical Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Hebrew, as well as contemporary languages like Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. The Cracow Academy, one of the world's oldest universities, enjoyed its Golden Era between 1500 and 1535, with 3,215 students graduating in the first decade of the 16th century – a record not surpassed until the late 18th century. The period of Polish Renaissance, supportive of intellectual pursuits, produced many outstanding artists and scientists. Among them were Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
who in his De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...
presented the heliocentric
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...
theory of the universe, Maciej of Miechów, author of Tractatus de duabus Sarmatis... – the most accurate up to date geographical
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
and ethnographical
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
account of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
; Bernard Wapowski
Bernard Wapowski
Bernard Wapowski was a historian and the leading Polish cartographer of the 16th century, known as "the father of Polish cartography."-Life:...
, a cartographer whose maps of that region appeared in Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
's Geography; Marcin Kromer
Marcin Kromer
Marcin Kromer or Martin Cromer was Prince-Bishop of Warmia , a cartographer, diplomat and historian in Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
who in his De origine et rebus gestis Polonorum libri... described both the history
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
and geography of Poland
Geography of Poland
Poland is a country in Central Europe with an area of 312,679 square kilometres , and mostly temperate climate. Generally speaking, Poland is an almost unbroken plain reaching from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Carpathian Mountains in the south...
; Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski was a Polish Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian, called "the father of Polish democracy." His book De Republica emendanda was widely read and praised across most of Renaissance Europe.-Life:Modrzewski was born in Wolbórz Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (ca....
, a philosopher concerned with governance
Governance
Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
; Mikołaj Rej who has popularized the use of Polish language
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
in poetry; and Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...
, whose poems in Polish language elevated him to the ranks of the most prominent Slavic poets.
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
), who graduated from any one of over 2,500 parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
schools, gymnasiums
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
and several academies (Cracow Academy, Wilno Academy, Zamość Academy), often traveled abroad to complete their education. Polish thinkers, like Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Johannes Dantiscus or Jan Łaski maintained contacts with leading European philosophers of the Renaissance, such as Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
, Erasmus and Philip Melanchthon. Poland not only partook in the exchange of major cultural and scientific ideas and developments of Western Europe, but also spread Western heritage
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
eastwards among East Slavic nations. For example, printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
process, Latin language and art with the syllabic versification in poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, especially in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
(through Kyiv-Mohyla Academy), from where it was transmitted 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...
(Duchy of Moscow), which began to increase its ties with western Europe in the aftermath of the Mongol invasion of Rus
Mongol invasion of Rus
The Mongol invasion of Russia was resumed on 21 December 1237 marking the resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked the medieval powers of Poland, Kiev, Hungary, and miscellaneous tribes of less organized peoples...
. The first four printed Cyrillic books in the world were published in Kraków, in 1491, by printer Szwajpolt Fiol.
Incentives for development of art and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
were many. King 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...
, who ascended to the throne in 1507, was a sponsor of many artists, and begun a major project - under Florence architect Bartolommeo Berrecci
Bartolommeo Berrecci
Bartolommeo Berrecci was a Florentine renaissance architect, who spent most of his career in Poland.He learned architecture in Florence, probably taught by Andrea Ferrucci...
- of remaking the ancient residence of the Polish kings, 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...
, into a modern Renaissance residence. Sigismund's zeal for Renaissance was matched not only by his son, 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...
, but by many wealthy nobles and burghers who also desired to display their wealth, influence and cultural savvy. In 1578, chancellor
Kanclerz
Kanclerz was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th...
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
begun construction of the ideal Renaissance city
Ideal city
Ideal city refers to a plan for a city that has been conceived in accordance with the dictates of some "rational" or "moral" objective.-Concept:...
, sponsoring the creation of Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
(a city named after him), which soon became an important administrative, commercial and educational town of Renaissance Poland. Two largest contemporary Polish cities - Kraków (which attracted many Italian architects) and 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...
(which attracted mostly architects from Germany and the Netherlands) - likely gained the most in the era, but many other cities also spotted new Renaissance constructions.
Renaissance painting was introduced in Poland by many immigrant artists, like Lucas Cranach
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, Hans Dürer
Hans Dürer
Hans Dürer , was a German Renaissance painter, illustrator, and engraver.He was the younger brother of Albrecht Dürer, and after him, the most talented of 17 siblings. He was certain to have been trained in the workshop of his already famous brother. He became the court painter for Sigismund I of...
and Hans von Kulmbach
Hans von Kulmbach
Artist Hans von Kulmbach was born around 1480 in Kulmbach, Franconia and died previous to Dec. 3, 1522 in Nuremberg. Hans von Kulmbach was the artist who created the Kraków St. John's Altar....
, and practiced by such Polish painters as Marcin Kober
Marcin Kober
Martin Kober . Was a court painter to: King Stefan Batory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and to Sigismund III Vasa ruler of Poland, Lithuania and Sweden.- External links :...
(a court painter of king Stefan Batory
Stefan Batory
Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...
). The works of the portraitists created an impressive gallery, particularly representative of those who could afford to be immortalized in them.
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
s, both vocal and instrumental, from dances, through polyphonic music, to religious oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
s and mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
es. In 1540 by Jan of Lublin released the Tablature, in which he collected most known European organ pieces. Nicolaus Cracoviensis
Nicolaus Cracoviensis
Nicolaus Cracoviensis was a 16th-century Polish composer.Not much is known about his life. His name appears in the Kraków University archives as organist at the Kraków court. The biggest part of his compositions is contained in two great Polish organ tablatures: by Jan z Lublina and the Cracow...
(Mikołaj of Kraków) composed many masses, motets, songs, dances and preludes. Mikołaj Gomółka was the author of musical rendition of Kochanowski's poems (Melodies for the Polish Psalter). The most famous Polish composer was Wacław z Szamotuł, recognized as one of the outstanding Renaissance composers.
The first printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
was set up in Kraków in 1473 by the German printer Kasper Straube
Kasper Straube
Kasper Straube was a German 15th century printer from Bavaria.He was active in Cracow between 1473 and 1477, decades before Johann Haller...
of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Between 1561 and 1600, seventeen printing houses in Poland published over 120 titles a year, with an average edition of 500 copies. The first complete translation of the Bible
Bible
The 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...
into Polish was made in 1561 by Jan Leopolita (Leopolita's Bible). About that time, the first Polish orthographic
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
dictionary was published (by Stanisław Murzynowski, 1551); grammars and dictionaries also proliferated. The Polish Renaissance was bilingual, the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
s speech being a mixture of Polish and Latin, and various authors oscillating among Polish, Latin, and a mixture of the two (Macaronic language
Macaronic language
Macaronic refers to text spoken or written using a mixture of languages, sometimes including bilingual puns, particularly when the languages are used in the same context . The term is also sometimes used to denote hybrid words, which are in effect internally macaronic...
).
Literature has progressed beyond being dominated by religious themes. They were still present, as seen in numerous bible translations, the most famous being the Wujek's Bible by Jakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek
Jakub Wujek son of Maciej Wujek; a Polish Jesuit, religious writer, Doctor of Theology, Vice-Chancellor of the Vilnius Academy and translator of the Bible into Polish.-Life:...
, published in 1599. The nobility, however, cared about more than just religious themes, and the works of Polish renaissance reflected their material and spiritual values (see sarmatism
Sarmatism
"Sarmatism" is a term designating the dominant lifestyle, culture and ideology of the szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Together with "Golden Liberty," it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth's culture...
). Contemporary poetry extolled the virtue of manorial
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
life. For example, Rej celebrated life and the position of country's noble, while Kochanowski wrote about the pleasures and beauty of life in the countryside, surrounded by nature. Literary forms varied, from ode
Ode
Ode is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...
, pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
s and sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s to elegy
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
, satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and romance
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
.
In applied sciences, scholars of the period include Jan Łaski (John Lasco), evangelical reformer, Maciej of Miechów (Maciej Miechowita), writer and university teacher, Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
, astronomer known in Polish as Mikołaj Kopernik, Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (Laurentius Grimaldius Gosliscius), political thinker and philosopher; Marcin Kromer
Marcin Kromer
Marcin Kromer or Martin Cromer was Prince-Bishop of Warmia , a cartographer, diplomat and historian in Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, writer and geographer; Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski was a Polish Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian, called "the father of Polish democracy." His book De Republica emendanda was widely read and praised across most of Renaissance Europe.-Life:Modrzewski was born in Wolbórz Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (ca....
, writer and philosopher; Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
, Jesuit political reformer; Józef Struś, doctor, scientist, mayor of Poznań; and many others.
Notable Polish Renaissance artists
Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...
, poet Szymon Szymonowic
Szymon Szymonowic
Szymon Szymonowic was a Polish Renaissance poet. He was known as "the Polish Pindar."-Life:Szymonowic studied in Poland , France and Belgium...
, poet Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński, writer Łukasz Górnicki, poet Andrzej Krzycki
Andrzej Krzycki
Andrzej Krzycki herbu Kotwicz was a Renaissance Polish writer and archbishop. Krzycki wrote in Latin prose, but wrote poetry in Polish. He is often considered one of Poland's greatest humanist writers....
, poet Johannes Dantiscus, composer Wacław z Szamotuł, composer and singer Mikołaj Gomółka, and painter Marcin Kober
Marcin Kober
Martin Kober . Was a court painter to: King Stefan Batory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and to Sigismund III Vasa ruler of Poland, Lithuania and Sweden.- External links :...
. The artists and architects who settled into Poland and had achieved considerable recognition for their work in the country are: Hans Dürer
Hans Dürer
Hans Dürer , was a German Renaissance painter, illustrator, and engraver.He was the younger brother of Albrecht Dürer, and after him, the most talented of 17 siblings. He was certain to have been trained in the workshop of his already famous brother. He became the court painter for Sigismund I of...
, Hans (Süss) von Kulmbach, Mateo Gucci
Mateo Gucci
Mateo Gucci was a Polish-Italian Renaissance architect and sculptor.He rebuilt the Old Synagogue in the Kraków suburb of Kazimierz, and he may have worked on the Wawel Castle. He is believed to have died in 1550, according to the town books of Kraków...
, Santi Gucci
Santi Gucci
Santi Gucci was a Polish-Italian architect and sculptor.-Biography:He moved to Poland after 1550, most probably from Florence, and became the court artist of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, his queen consort Anna Jagiellonka and his successor Stefan Batory of Poland...
, Bartholommeo Berecci, Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando, also known as Bernardino or Morandi was a Polish-Italian architect. He is notable as the author of a new town of Zamość, modelled on Renaissance theories of the 'ideal city'....
, Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro was a Polish-Italian renaissance architect, one of the most famous architects in Central Europe in his epoque....
and others.
Architectural trends and periods
Polish Renaissance architectureRenaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
is divided into three main periods: The first period (1500–1550) is often called "Italian", because most of the Renaissance buildings in this time were built by Italian architects invited by Polish nobility mainly from Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. During the second period (1550–1600), Renaissance style became common, and included influences from Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
version of the Reinessance as well as beginnings of the Mannerist style. In the third period (1600–1650), Mannerism became popular, with first notable examples of Baroque (see also, Baroque in Poland
Baroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of...
).
First period
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...
was partially consumed by fire. King Alexander Jagiellon
Alexander Jagiellon
Alexander of the House of Jagiellon was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and later also King of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon...
in 1504 appointed Eberhard Rosemberger as the main architect for the renovation. Later, he was replaced by Italian-born Francesco Florentino and, after his death, by Bartolomeo Berrecci and by Benedykt of Sandomierz. As a result of their work the Royal Castle was transformed into a Renaissance residence in Florentine style. In the same period other castles and residences were built or rebuilt in the new style, including Drzewica
Drzewica
Drzewica is a town in Opoczno County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, with 4,022 inhabitants .-External links:*...
(built in 1527–1535), Szydłowiec (rebuilt 1509–1532), Ogrodzieniec
Ogrodzieniec
Ogrodzieniec is town Zawiercie County, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, with 4,499 inhabitants .It is noted for the extensive ruins of a medieval castle, damaged during the Swedish invasion of Poland in the years 1655–1660.- External links :...
(rebuilt 1532–1547) and most notably, Pieskowa Skała, rebuilt 1542–1580.
In the first period of the Polish Renaissance, churches were still build mostly in the Gothic style. In this time, only new chapels surrounding the old churches were sometimes build in the new style. The most prominent of them, the Sigismund's Chapel
Sigismund's Chapel
"Sigismund's Chapel" of the Wawel Cathedral is one of the most notable pieces of architecture in Kraków. Built as a funerary chapel for the last Jagiellons, it has been hailed by many art historians as "the most beautiful example of the Tuscan Renaissance north of the Alps"...
at the Wawel Cathedral
Wawel Cathedral
The Wawel Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, is a church located on Wawel Hill in Kraków–Poland's national sanctuary. It has a 1,000-year history and was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs. It is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Kraków...
, was built in 1519–33 by Bartolomeo Berecci.
Second period
The Renaissance style became most common throughout Poland in its second period. In the northern part of the country, especially in PomeraniaPomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
and in Danzig
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...
(Gdańsk), worked a large group of Dutch-born artists. Renaissance style in other parts of Poland varied under local conditions, producing different substyles in each region. Also, some elements of the new Manierist style were present. Architecture of this period is divided into three regional substyles: "Italian" – mostly in the southern part of Poland, with the most famous artist there being Santi Gucci. The "Dutch" – mostly in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
; and, the "Kalisz
Kalisz
Kalisz is a city in central Poland with 106,857 inhabitants , the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce...
-Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
style" or "The Lublin Renaissance" in central Poland – with most notable examples built in Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
and Kazimierz Dolny
Kazimierz Dolny
Kazimierz Dolny is a small town in Central Poland, on the right bank of the Vistula river in Puławy County, Lublin Province.It is a considerable tourist attraction as one of the most beautifully situated little towns in Poland. It enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the 16th and the first half of...
.
All over Poland, new castles were constructed, bearing the new quadrilateral shape enclosing a courtyard, and with four towers at the corners. Prominent examples include: the castle at Płakowice (16th century), the castle at Brzeg
Brzeg
Brzeg is a town in southwestern Poland with 38,496 inhabitants , situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Oder...
, (rebuilt from a Gothic stronghold in 1544–60), the castle at Niepołomice (rebuilt after a fire in 1550–71), the castle at Baranów Sandomierski
Baranów Sandomierski
Baranów Sandomierski is a small town in southern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship, Tarnobrzeg County on the Vistula River, with 1,440 inhabitants .-Castle:...
(built in 1591–1606 by Santi Gucci), and the castle at Krasiczyn
Krasiczyn
Krasiczyn is a village in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Krasiczyn. The village has a population of 440...
.
Many cities erected new buildings in the Renaissance style. New Cloth Hall (Sukiennice)
Sukiennice
The Renaissance Sukiennice in Kraków, Poland, is one of the city's most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the Main Market Square in the Kraków Old Town . It was once a major centre of international trade. Traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter...
in Kraków was built. City halls were built or rebuilt in: Tarnów
Tarnów
Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...
, Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
, Chełm (demolished) and in Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
. Also, entire towns were often redesigned. Examples of Renaissance urban planning survived into modern times in Szydłowiec and Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
.
Examples of Pomeranian Renaissance which developed under the influence of Northern Europe rather than Italy were: Green Gate in Gdańsk (built in 1564–1568 by Hans Kramer); Upland Gate in Gdańsk (Willem van den Blocke finished it in 1588); Great Arsenal in Gdańsk (built in 1602–1606 by Anton van Obberghen); and the Old City Hall in Gdańsk (built in 1587–1595, probably by Anton van Obberghen).
Characteristic laicization of life during Renaissance and Reformation resulted in only minor development in sacral architecture. Mainly chapels were being built in the Renaissance style, but some churches were also rebuilt including: Cathedral in Płock (rebuilt after fire by architects Zanobi de Gianotis, Cini, Filippo di Fiesole and later again by Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro
Giovanni Battista di Quadro was a Polish-Italian renaissance architect, one of the most famous architects in Central Europe in his epoque....
); and, the Collegiate in Pułtusk (rebuilt by John Batista of Venice). Only a few new churches were founded, such as the collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
of St. Thomas in Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
.
Third period
A fire at WawelWawel
Wawel is an architectural complex erected over many centuries atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River in Kraków, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level. It is a place of great significance to the Polish people. The Royal Castle with an armoury and the...
and the moving of the capital to 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...
in 1596 halted the development of Renaissance in Kraków, as well as in Gdańsk. Also, the rising power of the Jesuits and the Counterreformation gave impetus to the development of Mannerist architecture and a new style – the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
(see also, Baroque in Poland
Baroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of...
). The most important example of the ascending Mannerist architecture in Poland is a complex of houses in Kazimierz Dolny
Kazimierz Dolny
Kazimierz Dolny is a small town in Central Poland, on the right bank of the Vistula river in Puławy County, Lublin Province.It is a considerable tourist attraction as one of the most beautifully situated little towns in Poland. It enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the 16th and the first half of...
and in Zamość
Zamosc
Zamość ukr. Замостя is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants , situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship , about from Lublin, from Warsaw and from the border with Ukraine...
.
See also
- Lublin RenaissanceLublin RenaissanceThe Lublin Renaissance - architectural style developed in the Lublin region of Poland at the end of the 16th century.- History :The Lublin region has a fine architectural heritage. It was at the end of the 16th century that the first fully developed forms of Renaissance architecture were imported...
- Mannerist architecture and sculpture in PolandMannerist architecture and sculpture in PolandMannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland dominated between 1550 and 1650, when it was finally replaced with baroque. The style includes various mannerist traditions, which are closely related with ethnic and religious diversity of the country, as well as with its economic and political...
- History of Poland (1385-1569)