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DOI Artikel:Skibiński, Franciszek: The Loitz network and the flowering of renaissance art in Gdańsk (1550-1580)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66965#0165
and their partners focused mainly on banking activities and trade, their agency
was also crucial for artistic and cultural transfer.i * * 4
In Gdańsk, the Loitz network comprised members of the Connert family,
who played a prominent role in the commercial and political life of the city,
and the affluent merchant Dietrick Lilie. The Connerts and Dietrick Lilie were
also avid patrons of art and architecture, both of which they leveraged to draw
attention to their immense wealth and elevated position within the city’s socio-
-economic hierarchy. They built houses lavishly decorated with architectural
and sculptural details, and in churches erected epitaphs commemorating mem-
bers of their families. To carry out these works, they employed artists who came
to Gdańsk from various parts of Europe, including the German lands, the Low
Countries, and even France.
In this paper I claim that their patronage was instrumental in the assimila-
tion of variants of the antique international visual language developed in sev-
eral parts of Europe. In the mid-sixteenth century, this new language was still
rare in the Baltic region, as is indicated by Paul van Hofe’s letter to Lübeck city
council dated to 1548, in which he stated that “the antique style, which is now
generally regarded as the highest art, is mostly absent in this town”.5 The ambi-
tious patronage of the people in the Loitz network, who were well-connected
and - thanks to their mobility - aware of new artistic and cultural developments
in other parts of Europe, and therefore produced important artistic and cultural
innovation, facilitating the city’s rise to artistic prominence after the period of
uncertainty that followed the Reformation.
The Connerts arrived in Gdańsk in the late fourteenth century from the Mar-
graviate of Brandenburg.6 They acquired their considerable wealth through large-
- scale commerce and investment in real estate, as was typical for the emerging civic
elite of that period.7 The Connerts cultivated relations with the Loitzes and other
i Zachód Europy w XIII-XVI wieku. Konfrontacja struktur społeczno-gospodarczych, Warszawa
1973; Witold Kula, An Economic Theory of the Feudal System: Towards a Model of the Polish
Economy, 1500-1800, London-New York 1987.
4 Aleksandra Lipińska, Fugger des Nordens? Die Kaufmanns- und Bankiersfamilie Loitz
als Kunstförderer und Vermittler im wirtschaftlich-kulturellen Netzwerk des Nord- und Ostsee-
gebiets [in:] Die maritime Stadt - Hafenstädte an der Ostsee vom Mittelalter bis in der Gegenwart,
Hg. Tomasz Torbus, Katarzyna Wojtczak, Warszawa 2017, pp. 231-254; see also: Norbert Lieb,
Fugger und die Kunst im Zeitalter der Spätgotik und frühen Renaissance, München 1952.
5 Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Ways of Transfer of Netherlandish Art [in:] Netherlandish Art-
ists in Gdańsk in the Time of Hans Vredeman de Vries, ed. Małgorzata Ruszkowska-Macur, Gdańsk
2006, p. 21; Konrad Ottenheym, Travelling Architects from the Low Countries and their Patrons
[in:] The Low Countries at the Crossroads: Netherlandish Architecture as an Export Product in Early
Modern Europe (1480-1680), ed. Krista De Jonge, Konrad Ottenheym, Turnhout 2013, p. 71.
6 Dorothea Weichbrodt, Patrizier, Bürger, Einwohner der Freien und Hansestadt Danzig
in Stamm- und Namentafeln vom 14.-18. Jahrhundert, Danzig 1986, p. 114; Joachim Zdrenka,
Urzędnicy miejscy Gdańska w latach 1342-1792 i 1807-1814, t. 2, Gdańsk 2008, pp. 178-179.
7 Maria Bogucka, Przemiany społeczne i walki społeczno-polityczne w XV i XVI w. [in:] His-
toria Gdańska, t. 2: 1454-1655, red. Edmund Cieślak, Gdańsk 1982, p. 210.
The Loitz
Network...
163
was also crucial for artistic and cultural transfer.i * * 4
In Gdańsk, the Loitz network comprised members of the Connert family,
who played a prominent role in the commercial and political life of the city,
and the affluent merchant Dietrick Lilie. The Connerts and Dietrick Lilie were
also avid patrons of art and architecture, both of which they leveraged to draw
attention to their immense wealth and elevated position within the city’s socio-
-economic hierarchy. They built houses lavishly decorated with architectural
and sculptural details, and in churches erected epitaphs commemorating mem-
bers of their families. To carry out these works, they employed artists who came
to Gdańsk from various parts of Europe, including the German lands, the Low
Countries, and even France.
In this paper I claim that their patronage was instrumental in the assimila-
tion of variants of the antique international visual language developed in sev-
eral parts of Europe. In the mid-sixteenth century, this new language was still
rare in the Baltic region, as is indicated by Paul van Hofe’s letter to Lübeck city
council dated to 1548, in which he stated that “the antique style, which is now
generally regarded as the highest art, is mostly absent in this town”.5 The ambi-
tious patronage of the people in the Loitz network, who were well-connected
and - thanks to their mobility - aware of new artistic and cultural developments
in other parts of Europe, and therefore produced important artistic and cultural
innovation, facilitating the city’s rise to artistic prominence after the period of
uncertainty that followed the Reformation.
The Connerts arrived in Gdańsk in the late fourteenth century from the Mar-
graviate of Brandenburg.6 They acquired their considerable wealth through large-
- scale commerce and investment in real estate, as was typical for the emerging civic
elite of that period.7 The Connerts cultivated relations with the Loitzes and other
i Zachód Europy w XIII-XVI wieku. Konfrontacja struktur społeczno-gospodarczych, Warszawa
1973; Witold Kula, An Economic Theory of the Feudal System: Towards a Model of the Polish
Economy, 1500-1800, London-New York 1987.
4 Aleksandra Lipińska, Fugger des Nordens? Die Kaufmanns- und Bankiersfamilie Loitz
als Kunstförderer und Vermittler im wirtschaftlich-kulturellen Netzwerk des Nord- und Ostsee-
gebiets [in:] Die maritime Stadt - Hafenstädte an der Ostsee vom Mittelalter bis in der Gegenwart,
Hg. Tomasz Torbus, Katarzyna Wojtczak, Warszawa 2017, pp. 231-254; see also: Norbert Lieb,
Fugger und die Kunst im Zeitalter der Spätgotik und frühen Renaissance, München 1952.
5 Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Ways of Transfer of Netherlandish Art [in:] Netherlandish Art-
ists in Gdańsk in the Time of Hans Vredeman de Vries, ed. Małgorzata Ruszkowska-Macur, Gdańsk
2006, p. 21; Konrad Ottenheym, Travelling Architects from the Low Countries and their Patrons
[in:] The Low Countries at the Crossroads: Netherlandish Architecture as an Export Product in Early
Modern Europe (1480-1680), ed. Krista De Jonge, Konrad Ottenheym, Turnhout 2013, p. 71.
6 Dorothea Weichbrodt, Patrizier, Bürger, Einwohner der Freien und Hansestadt Danzig
in Stamm- und Namentafeln vom 14.-18. Jahrhundert, Danzig 1986, p. 114; Joachim Zdrenka,
Urzędnicy miejscy Gdańska w latach 1342-1792 i 1807-1814, t. 2, Gdańsk 2008, pp. 178-179.
7 Maria Bogucka, Przemiany społeczne i walki społeczno-polityczne w XV i XVI w. [in:] His-
toria Gdańska, t. 2: 1454-1655, red. Edmund Cieślak, Gdańsk 1982, p. 210.
The Loitz
Network...
163