DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0050
Among men of letters, Italian-educated Poles predominated. They
wrote in classical Latin but also laid the foundations of Polish
national literature. Besides topical pieces connected with state and
court events, and translations of foreign literature (The Courtier by
Lukasz Gornicki), political, moral and historical works were
written. This flurry of literary activity, of strongly humanistic and
sometimes neo-Platonic bent, found an ally in the fast-developing
printing industry. The presses of Ungler, Haller, Wietor, Lazar z
Andrysowicz, Wierzbi^ta, the Siebeneychers, the Szarffenbergs
and the Piotrkowczyk family ran off more and more works in
Polish, besides Latin books. Many were splendidly ornamented
and illustrated with woodcuts. Based on the chronicles by Miecho-
wita, Bielski, Kromer and Gwagnin, sets of illustrations on Polish
history were issued, with portraits of rulers, and even depicting
contemporary events. The interest in the nation’s past extended to
the history of Cracow itself. The first city guidebook was publi-
shed in 1603.
Royal patronage played the biggest role in the arts, through
sponsorship of Italian artists, who introduced new ideas and
forms. Initially, Italian influences came indirectly through the
Hungarian court of Ladislaus Jagiello. The first Renaissance artist
in Cracow was Francesco Fiorentino, brought here probably at the
turn of 1501—1502. He made the niche of John Albert’s tomb in
the Cathedral, and he coauthored the first stage of renovations
on the Wawel castle. After his death in 1516, he was replaced
by Bartolomeo Berrecci, also of Florence. So, from the start,
Renaissance architecture in Cracow had Tuscan features, unlike
other Polish centres such as Poznan and Lvov where Italian art
was brought by immigrants from the northern regions of Italy.
During the work on the Royal Castle (finished in 1536),
and especially on the mausoleum-chapel of Sigismund the Old
(1517—1533), Berrecci gathered a strong team of masons and
sculptors, mostly Italian, although from 1524 to 1529 the con-
struction of the castle was supervised by the local architect
Benedykt.
48
wrote in classical Latin but also laid the foundations of Polish
national literature. Besides topical pieces connected with state and
court events, and translations of foreign literature (The Courtier by
Lukasz Gornicki), political, moral and historical works were
written. This flurry of literary activity, of strongly humanistic and
sometimes neo-Platonic bent, found an ally in the fast-developing
printing industry. The presses of Ungler, Haller, Wietor, Lazar z
Andrysowicz, Wierzbi^ta, the Siebeneychers, the Szarffenbergs
and the Piotrkowczyk family ran off more and more works in
Polish, besides Latin books. Many were splendidly ornamented
and illustrated with woodcuts. Based on the chronicles by Miecho-
wita, Bielski, Kromer and Gwagnin, sets of illustrations on Polish
history were issued, with portraits of rulers, and even depicting
contemporary events. The interest in the nation’s past extended to
the history of Cracow itself. The first city guidebook was publi-
shed in 1603.
Royal patronage played the biggest role in the arts, through
sponsorship of Italian artists, who introduced new ideas and
forms. Initially, Italian influences came indirectly through the
Hungarian court of Ladislaus Jagiello. The first Renaissance artist
in Cracow was Francesco Fiorentino, brought here probably at the
turn of 1501—1502. He made the niche of John Albert’s tomb in
the Cathedral, and he coauthored the first stage of renovations
on the Wawel castle. After his death in 1516, he was replaced
by Bartolomeo Berrecci, also of Florence. So, from the start,
Renaissance architecture in Cracow had Tuscan features, unlike
other Polish centres such as Poznan and Lvov where Italian art
was brought by immigrants from the northern regions of Italy.
During the work on the Royal Castle (finished in 1536),
and especially on the mausoleum-chapel of Sigismund the Old
(1517—1533), Berrecci gathered a strong team of masons and
sculptors, mostly Italian, although from 1524 to 1529 the con-
struction of the castle was supervised by the local architect
Benedykt.
48