Instytut Sztuki (Warschau) [Hrsg.]; Państwowy Instytut Sztuki (bis 1959) [Hrsg.]; Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki [Hrsg.]: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki (80.2018)

Nagrobek Jędrzeja Śniadeckiego w Horodnikach pod Oszmianą (1839)

673

features three bas-reliefs related to Kluk's research
with the scenes of individuals working: peasants,
gardeners, fishermen, and beekeepers; miners, and
steelworkers.
In the case of Śniadecki's statute from 1874-75,
the identification of the person and of their job is
obvious. It is different when the monument, and
particularly the sepulchral one, is devoid of the
deceased's effigy. In their case, only the inscription
and the coat of arms allow to deduce who the tomb
was raised to commemorate. Furthermore, inscrip-
tions can at times be so concise that only appropriate
images point out to who the deceased was. It is worth
recalling here e.g. the tombstone of Jan Zamoyski in
the Zamość Collegiate Church (after 1606, before
1619), featuring a seal and baton, namely the
insignia of the chancellor and grand crown hetman
with a coat of arms and an inscription merely with
the first name, family name, and death date (Fig. 7).
In such pieces of sepulchral art we are dealing with
the phenomenon of a peculiar framework topic: the
monument's ideological programme is in a way
universal, as it is appropriate for many represen-
tatives of the same 'status', namely the same
profession, office, exerted function, etc.
'Status' programmes were implemented in
various ways: (1) indirect, as if allusive, and (2)
'direct'. Among type (1), mention has to be made of
the epitaph of the inn keeper Georg Jeschke (d.
1576) in St Elisabeth Church in Wrocław, showing
Abraham being visited by three men. Type (2) is
extensive, including two subtypes: (A) person at
work, and (B) attributes of the job or office, etc.
Subtype (A) is represented e.g. by the epitaph of
Philippus Callimachus (Veit Stoss, ca. 1502-3,
Kraków, Dominican Church), or the tomb of
Archdeacon Piotr Gebauer, d. 1646 (Wrocław
Cathedral). Callimachus, the secretary of King John
I Albert, is portrayed as a vir politicus who, in his
study, is checking a newly prepared document of
national importance (Fig. 8). Gebauer, in his turn, is
shown speaking from the pulpit, since he was a
Cathedral preacher for 15 years (Fig. 9). Subtype (B)
contains several genres. In the simplest, and most
common one, the issue boils down to the costume
and the used accessories, which applies both to
clergymen and knights (later the military). In another
genre we deal with instruments demonstrated by
their owners, as e.g. in the tombstone of the
blacksmith Nitsch (d, 1625) in Leszno, featuring a
standing craftsman, holding a hammer in his right
and a pair of pincers in his left hand (Fig. 10). The
next genre features merely the attributes, which can
be observed not only in the afore-mentioned tombs
of Śniadecki or Zamoyski, but also contemporarily.
This is testified to by the tomb of the illustrious

filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski (d. 1996) at the Old
Powązki Cemetery (KrzysztofM. Bednarski, 1997),
with two director's hands framing up a shot (Fig. 11).
At times, the attribute does not necessarily define the
deceased's function, but it can testify to his or her
oeuvre, accomplishments, etc. The latter is the case
of an authentic artillery gun at the Powązki Cemetery
placed on the tomb of Jędrzej Węgłowski vel
Węglowski (1789-1861), Artillery Major-General
of the Russian army, inventor of so-called
Węgłowski gun towing trailer (Fig. 12). On other
occasions the attribute may not necessarily refer
only to the deceased's profession, but also to an
event from his or her biography. To illustrate this
variant it is enough to recall an airscrew frequently
found on 20th-century tombs, attached to them,
occasionally to point out to the pilot's tragic death.
In that case we have to do with an intermediary form
between status and biographical programmes that
are discussed below. Another genre includes such
tombs in which attributes (most frequently books)
constitute an element completing the image of the
deceased. This complement can either be symbolic
or specific. A big-sized, medium, or a small book
can either suggest the deceased to have been a
clergyman or a pious faithful, the latter most often
with respect to a woman. On another occasion, it
could have served to point out to the deceased
having been a humanist, a man of learning, which
has been used to-date in different branches of art, and
not only in epitaphs or tombs. It is sometimes the case
that the presented book was written by the deceased.
Biographical programmes are less elaborate, and also
much rarer. Reference to the deceased's first name or
the meaning of their family name can be come across
in Protestant epitaphs. For example, in the Wrocław
Church of St Elizabeth the epitaph of Józef (Joseph)
Rindfleisch (after 1599) features the Biblical scene
of Joseph welcoming Jacob with his sons, while that
of Fryderyk Scheffer (d. 1607) featured Christ the
Good Shepherd (in German, Schafer means a
shepherd).
However, in Polish sepulchral and epitaph art
there is one unique work showing the cause of the
death. In the 1643 epitaph of Jerzy Rudomina and
his eight companions who perished in the 1621
battle of Chocim, nine kneeling...beheaded knights
were shown (Nowogródek Parish Church; Fig. 13).
Other personal contents can be found in monuments
from e.g. the turn of the 20th century. In some cases,
there are specific dogs lying down on guard: Pluto
and Nero guarding the tomb of Józef Iwanowicz (d.
1877) at the Łyczakowski Cemetery in Lwów
(Paweł Eutele), or As keeping guard for Adolf
Dygasiński (d. 1902) at Warsaw's Powązki (Czesław
Makowski).