DOI issue:
Nr. 4
DOI article:Dobrowolski, Witold; Smuglewicz, Franciszek [Ill.]; Byres, James [Ill.]: The drawings of Etruscan tombs by Franciszek Smuglewicz and his cooperation with James Byres
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18863#0124
album, there is a note in Polish, most probably written by Smuglewicz himself79: "View of
the old town of Tarąuinia which lays a day and a half ride away from Romę, and in the sur-
roundings of which cave tombs of tbe Etruscans can be found. The first to discover the entrance
to the tombs were voyaging Englishmen: Swipnet, Wilbraham, Kox Gayet and Bayres. Fran-
ciszek Smuglewicz, a Polish painter, was requested to make copies of the tombs in situ?9
Therefore, we should not be astonished at the presence of drawings- preliminary sketches
for the plates of Hypogaei in the collection of Stanisław August. They provide the finał proof
in the delicate matter of the authorship.
The drawings form a coherent set of eight segments of the figura! frieze decorating the upper
part of the wali of the famous Cardinal's Tomb80, and more precisely- its right wali when viewed
from the entrance. They are executed in black ink on three sheets of handmade paper, the
two smaller of which equal approximately a half of the bigger one. Ali the segemnts are enclosed
in rectangular frames of approximately equal size (25,8 cm length; 4,8—5,0 cm hight, which
almost eąuals one half of the size of the drawings to be published). Each of the smaller sheets
contains two sections, and the bigger one- four sections: two on the different halves of both:
averse and reverse of the sheet. Great artistic freedom revealed in the work and sketchy char-
acter of the drawings, enriching the black and white values of the picture with slight colouring
and diagonal hatching, presence of other sketches, figural scenes the meaning of which is un-
clear, plans, architectonical interiors or ornamental motives derived from ancient ceramics. Ali
these prove that the sketches are only an attempt to divide the long and narrow frieze into
segments which could be easily reproduced on a single plate of the album.
The artist's work was undoubtedly executed on the basis of the sketches drawn in situ&1.
79. Almost all the engravings and drawings from Stanisław August's Print Room arc accompanicd by dcscriptions, the hand-
writting of which betrays analogies to that of the letter written by Smuglewicz to the King and preserved in the Czarto-
ryski Library (MS 782). As for the content the texts are correct and they could not have been done by somebody not
involved in the matter. From among enumeratcd Englishmen (except Byres) I was able to identify only Wilbraham known
from Byres's diary (see footnotc 61) and the letter of Winckclmunn (see footnote 59) informing about Wilbraham's par-
ticipation in the works carried out by Byres in Corneto. Other namcs are difficult to identify. Mr. I. G. Brown from the
Department of Manuscripts of the National Library of Scotland informed me in his letter dated March 31, 1978 that:
"Apart from Wilbraham no other Englishman..." is mentioncd in the travel journal of 1766 (MS 10339). The names men-
tioned by Smuglewicz are unknown to B. Ford, an emincnt expert to the problem. According to him the name "Kox"
(Cox?) is a popular one and therefore difficult to identify. I am very thankful to both scholars for thepresentedinformation.
80. One of the most interesting tombs in the Tarquinian cemetery. For over two hundred years the scheme of the painted
decoration of the frieze representing transmigration of the dead accompanied by demons on their way to the other world
has been of a great intcrest to scholars. The possible influence of the Orphic-pythagorean beliefs on the paintings of the
tomb constitutes the crucial problem cx2>Iained differently by scholars. From among the most important works on the
Bubject one should mention the following oncs: CC. van Essen, "La Tomba del Cardinale", St Etr., II, 1928, p. 83—123;
J. M. Blaząuez, "Ta Tumba del Cardinale y la influencia orfico-pitagorica en las creencias ctruscas de ultretumba", La-
tomus, XXIV, 1965, p. 3—39. A. Morandi, "La tomba del Cardinale", Monumenti delia Pittura Antica troiati in Italia
accompanied by my short article concerning Byrcs*s cooperation with Smuglewicz is now in print. I am very grateful
to doctor Morandi who cnablcd me access to his private matcrials concerning early archaeological excavations carried
out by Byres in Tartjuinia, as well as for his friendly suggestions and advice he conveycd me during numcrous discussions
on the history of the research in Tarquinia and the tomb's architecture and decoration. I am also thankful for the access
to the photographs of the frieze. According to doctor Morandi, the Cardinal's Tomb, foundedin the Illrdcentury BC, and
originally dccorated with typical scenes of banquet and fights was enlarged and repainted in the course of the Ilnd and
the beginning of the Ist centuries. Large figurcs of the dead feasting with their relatives (the remains of which are pre-
served on the right wali of the tomb) were replaced by a smali frieze presenting dead accompanied by winged dcmons
on their way to the other world.
81. The artist or artists, if we assume that Byres also participated in the works on the documentation of the tomb making:
use of his archilcctural qualifications. It would be a case of the cooperation betwecn an architect and a painter, similar
to that betwecn Smuglewicz and Brenna when working on documentation of the paintings from Neron's Domus Aurea,
Zalęski, op. cit,, p. 246. Most probably both Smuglewicz and Brenna were employed in 1777 by Stanisław Kostka Potocki
who wanted them to cooperate in the work on the luxury album reconstructing the Laurentinum paintings: Lorentz,
Domus aurea, op. cit., p. 322. Due to lack of any data it is difficult to state, whether Smuglewicz together with other ar-
chitects employed by Byres circa 1764 participated in reconstruction of the plan of Caracalla*s Baths, as it was suggested
by I. G. Brown in his letter to me, who based his information on the diary of James Martin (now in the private collec-
tion). There exist no proofs of similar cooperation between Smuglewicz and Byres.
114
the old town of Tarąuinia which lays a day and a half ride away from Romę, and in the sur-
roundings of which cave tombs of tbe Etruscans can be found. The first to discover the entrance
to the tombs were voyaging Englishmen: Swipnet, Wilbraham, Kox Gayet and Bayres. Fran-
ciszek Smuglewicz, a Polish painter, was requested to make copies of the tombs in situ?9
Therefore, we should not be astonished at the presence of drawings- preliminary sketches
for the plates of Hypogaei in the collection of Stanisław August. They provide the finał proof
in the delicate matter of the authorship.
The drawings form a coherent set of eight segments of the figura! frieze decorating the upper
part of the wali of the famous Cardinal's Tomb80, and more precisely- its right wali when viewed
from the entrance. They are executed in black ink on three sheets of handmade paper, the
two smaller of which equal approximately a half of the bigger one. Ali the segemnts are enclosed
in rectangular frames of approximately equal size (25,8 cm length; 4,8—5,0 cm hight, which
almost eąuals one half of the size of the drawings to be published). Each of the smaller sheets
contains two sections, and the bigger one- four sections: two on the different halves of both:
averse and reverse of the sheet. Great artistic freedom revealed in the work and sketchy char-
acter of the drawings, enriching the black and white values of the picture with slight colouring
and diagonal hatching, presence of other sketches, figural scenes the meaning of which is un-
clear, plans, architectonical interiors or ornamental motives derived from ancient ceramics. Ali
these prove that the sketches are only an attempt to divide the long and narrow frieze into
segments which could be easily reproduced on a single plate of the album.
The artist's work was undoubtedly executed on the basis of the sketches drawn in situ&1.
79. Almost all the engravings and drawings from Stanisław August's Print Room arc accompanicd by dcscriptions, the hand-
writting of which betrays analogies to that of the letter written by Smuglewicz to the King and preserved in the Czarto-
ryski Library (MS 782). As for the content the texts are correct and they could not have been done by somebody not
involved in the matter. From among enumeratcd Englishmen (except Byres) I was able to identify only Wilbraham known
from Byres's diary (see footnotc 61) and the letter of Winckclmunn (see footnote 59) informing about Wilbraham's par-
ticipation in the works carried out by Byres in Corneto. Other namcs are difficult to identify. Mr. I. G. Brown from the
Department of Manuscripts of the National Library of Scotland informed me in his letter dated March 31, 1978 that:
"Apart from Wilbraham no other Englishman..." is mentioncd in the travel journal of 1766 (MS 10339). The names men-
tioned by Smuglewicz are unknown to B. Ford, an emincnt expert to the problem. According to him the name "Kox"
(Cox?) is a popular one and therefore difficult to identify. I am very thankful to both scholars for thepresentedinformation.
80. One of the most interesting tombs in the Tarquinian cemetery. For over two hundred years the scheme of the painted
decoration of the frieze representing transmigration of the dead accompanied by demons on their way to the other world
has been of a great intcrest to scholars. The possible influence of the Orphic-pythagorean beliefs on the paintings of the
tomb constitutes the crucial problem cx2>Iained differently by scholars. From among the most important works on the
Bubject one should mention the following oncs: CC. van Essen, "La Tomba del Cardinale", St Etr., II, 1928, p. 83—123;
J. M. Blaząuez, "Ta Tumba del Cardinale y la influencia orfico-pitagorica en las creencias ctruscas de ultretumba", La-
tomus, XXIV, 1965, p. 3—39. A. Morandi, "La tomba del Cardinale", Monumenti delia Pittura Antica troiati in Italia
accompanied by my short article concerning Byrcs*s cooperation with Smuglewicz is now in print. I am very grateful
to doctor Morandi who cnablcd me access to his private matcrials concerning early archaeological excavations carried
out by Byres in Tartjuinia, as well as for his friendly suggestions and advice he conveycd me during numcrous discussions
on the history of the research in Tarquinia and the tomb's architecture and decoration. I am also thankful for the access
to the photographs of the frieze. According to doctor Morandi, the Cardinal's Tomb, foundedin the Illrdcentury BC, and
originally dccorated with typical scenes of banquet and fights was enlarged and repainted in the course of the Ilnd and
the beginning of the Ist centuries. Large figurcs of the dead feasting with their relatives (the remains of which are pre-
served on the right wali of the tomb) were replaced by a smali frieze presenting dead accompanied by winged dcmons
on their way to the other world.
81. The artist or artists, if we assume that Byres also participated in the works on the documentation of the tomb making:
use of his archilcctural qualifications. It would be a case of the cooperation betwecn an architect and a painter, similar
to that betwecn Smuglewicz and Brenna when working on documentation of the paintings from Neron's Domus Aurea,
Zalęski, op. cit,, p. 246. Most probably both Smuglewicz and Brenna were employed in 1777 by Stanisław Kostka Potocki
who wanted them to cooperate in the work on the luxury album reconstructing the Laurentinum paintings: Lorentz,
Domus aurea, op. cit., p. 322. Due to lack of any data it is difficult to state, whether Smuglewicz together with other ar-
chitects employed by Byres circa 1764 participated in reconstruction of the plan of Caracalla*s Baths, as it was suggested
by I. G. Brown in his letter to me, who based his information on the diary of James Martin (now in the private collec-
tion). There exist no proofs of similar cooperation between Smuglewicz and Byres.
114