DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.33086#0015
By his last will and testament, written in Warsaw in 1571,
King Sigismund Augustus gave his collection of tapestries
the character of public property. He specitically ruled that,
after the death of his sisters, the collection should become
the property of the Polish Republic "for public benefit". So
it was done. Out of the Jagiellonian coliection of tapestries,
136 pieces have been preserved to this day; 132 of them
adorn the halis of Wawel Castle, and 4 are displayed at
the National Museum in Warsaw.
Large and splendid collections were accumulated by the
Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty at the end of the 16th
century and in the first half of the 17th century. Their basis
was the coliection of King Sigismund III, built up from
gifts and purchases. We know, for example, that in 1596 the
Papal Legate brought him many Italian paintings, and that in
the last years of the 16th century, a Spanish envoy came to
the royai castle of Wawel bringing paintings and tapestries.
Sigismund III's purchases were made in the countries of
southem and western Europe and in the Orient. The
expedition to Persia of the merchant Sefer Muratowicz,
commissioned by the King with orders for rugs, tents and
swords, became famous; he took along with him drawings
of royal coats of arms and ciphers which were to be woven
into the rugs and placed in the ornamentation of the
weapons. Some of these rugs were received by the King's
daughter, Anne-Catherine, when she married the prince of
Neuburg Philip Wilhelm, later Elector of the Paiatinate;
a few of them have been preserved to this day in Munich,
together with some of the articles of goldsmithery that were
included in the dowry of the princess.
The purchases of paintings as well as of tapestries and
various curios in Italy were made through various agents.
This fancy for curiosities (an Egyptian mummy, Indian ob-
jects made from feathers, etc.) is reminiscent of Archduke
Ferdinand's simiiar interests and of his coliection in the
Ambras Castle in Tyrol. It should be recalled in this connec-
tion that Sigismund III was on friendiy terms with the
Hapsburgs. This type of collection, called a Cabinet of
Arts and Curios, where works of art appeared side by
side with natural specimens and miscellaneous curiosities,
was very popular at that time in many countries of
Europe.
Two factors seem to have stimulated Sigismund III to ac-
quire art collections. Firstly, he no doubt had a personal
enthusiasm for art which found expression in the King's
own lively engagement in amateur painting and gold-
smithing; secondly the desire to add spiendour to his court,
consistent with the absolutist tendencies so common among
European rulers of those and later times.
The journey of Prince Wiadysiaw, later King Wiadysiaw IV,
son of Sigismund III, to the Netherlands in 1624, and the
establishment of direct contact with Rubens and his studio,
resulted in numerous commissions. From Rubens easel
and from his studio came at least three royal portraits of
Wiadysiaw and a iarge equestrian portrait of his father,
the latter now in the famous Swedish portrait collection
at the castle of Gripsholm, Sweden. The Polish court aiso
acquired many works from Jan Bruegel known as "the
Velvet Bruegel". An interesting and only recently disco-
12
King Sigismund Augustus gave his collection of tapestries
the character of public property. He specitically ruled that,
after the death of his sisters, the collection should become
the property of the Polish Republic "for public benefit". So
it was done. Out of the Jagiellonian coliection of tapestries,
136 pieces have been preserved to this day; 132 of them
adorn the halis of Wawel Castle, and 4 are displayed at
the National Museum in Warsaw.
Large and splendid collections were accumulated by the
Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty at the end of the 16th
century and in the first half of the 17th century. Their basis
was the coliection of King Sigismund III, built up from
gifts and purchases. We know, for example, that in 1596 the
Papal Legate brought him many Italian paintings, and that in
the last years of the 16th century, a Spanish envoy came to
the royai castle of Wawel bringing paintings and tapestries.
Sigismund III's purchases were made in the countries of
southem and western Europe and in the Orient. The
expedition to Persia of the merchant Sefer Muratowicz,
commissioned by the King with orders for rugs, tents and
swords, became famous; he took along with him drawings
of royal coats of arms and ciphers which were to be woven
into the rugs and placed in the ornamentation of the
weapons. Some of these rugs were received by the King's
daughter, Anne-Catherine, when she married the prince of
Neuburg Philip Wilhelm, later Elector of the Paiatinate;
a few of them have been preserved to this day in Munich,
together with some of the articles of goldsmithery that were
included in the dowry of the princess.
The purchases of paintings as well as of tapestries and
various curios in Italy were made through various agents.
This fancy for curiosities (an Egyptian mummy, Indian ob-
jects made from feathers, etc.) is reminiscent of Archduke
Ferdinand's simiiar interests and of his coliection in the
Ambras Castle in Tyrol. It should be recalled in this connec-
tion that Sigismund III was on friendiy terms with the
Hapsburgs. This type of collection, called a Cabinet of
Arts and Curios, where works of art appeared side by
side with natural specimens and miscellaneous curiosities,
was very popular at that time in many countries of
Europe.
Two factors seem to have stimulated Sigismund III to ac-
quire art collections. Firstly, he no doubt had a personal
enthusiasm for art which found expression in the King's
own lively engagement in amateur painting and gold-
smithing; secondly the desire to add spiendour to his court,
consistent with the absolutist tendencies so common among
European rulers of those and later times.
The journey of Prince Wiadysiaw, later King Wiadysiaw IV,
son of Sigismund III, to the Netherlands in 1624, and the
establishment of direct contact with Rubens and his studio,
resulted in numerous commissions. From Rubens easel
and from his studio came at least three royal portraits of
Wiadysiaw and a iarge equestrian portrait of his father,
the latter now in the famous Swedish portrait collection
at the castle of Gripsholm, Sweden. The Polish court aiso
acquired many works from Jan Bruegel known as "the
Velvet Bruegel". An interesting and only recently disco-
12