DOI article:
Boczkowska, Anna: Dawid i Betsabe – Idea zwycięstwa i zbawienia w treściach nagrobka Kazimierza Jagiellończyka Wita Stwosza
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14539#0041
DAWID I BETSABE. IDEA ZWYCIĘSTWA I ZBAWIENIA W TREŚCIACH NAGROBKA KAZIMIERZA JAGIELLOŃCZYKA
37
Just like Matthew Korvin did on his Florentine miniature, Casimir Jagellon appears on his tombne in a double role.
As David the warrior on the capital and as David-king and priest in full royal stateliness on the top slab (fig. 10).
That this was the intention of the creators of the tomb's iconographie program is supported by the fact that Wit
Stwosz placed on the monarch's chest a medallion showing a naked pregnant women with a covered abdomen among
acantuhus leaves and precious stones (fig. 13). This is Bathseheba as the typological figure of Maria-Ecclesia and
chosen Royal Bride of David as typological figure of Christ. She is. at the same time, a personification of the
anima Christiana of King as David-Christ, who was presented as woman in illustrations to the Book of Psalms. In
patrological commentaries to the Book of Psalms and the Songs of Songs David as the "type" of Christ was called
„Sponsus animae", "Manu fortis" and „Desiderabilis". This is why the closest analogy of this unique composition,
without precedence in European sculpture, of the union of the King in ceremoniał attire with the figure of a naked
woman with a pronouced abdomen, represented on the tomb, can be found in 14th and 15th century illustrations to
David's penitential Psalm 50. They présent the naked Bathseheba in a bath with pronounced abdomen as Salomon's
future mother, watched by a festively clothed David (fig. 15). The commentary to this Psalm includes a médical
motif of curing and purifying the wounds of the original sin and the great mercy and love of the Creator for
fallen human nature. It is not by chance, therefore, the figure of pregnant Bathseheba calls to mind images of
women giving birth, represented in anatomical treatises (fig. 14). The motif of birth itself is an allegorial picture of
a renewed birth of the King from the womb of mother Bathseheba-Maria-Ecclesia to the eternal life in the Garden
of Eden. Then Casimir Jagellon was presented on the capital as David — "Manu fortis", that who defeated the enemies
of Latin Christianitas, the defender of God's people, on the top slab as David — "Desiderabilis", the bridegroom of
Bathseheba-Maria-Ecclesia whose figure is the figure of his beloved wife — Elisabeth Habsburg, mother of six son and
seven daughters. Then a medallion with her figure, encircled by precous stones, represented on the chest of David-Jagellon
is the Biblical "breastplate" decorated with "'rows of stones" which quantity is the quantity of "the children of Izrael"
(Ex. 28, 17-21), denoting the quantity of children of Casimir and Elisabeth. It was she, who — as the granddaughter
of the Emperor and Roman King Sigismund of Luxemburg and daughter of the Roman King Albrecht II. the
only surviving heir to the Bohemian and Hungarian Crown — initiated a new dynastie policy program at the Polish
court. Her objective was to discrédit national monarchs — "usurpres" Georg of Podiebrad and Matthew Korvin. to
enthrone her husband in Bohemia and Hungary and to ensure succession to her sons. Judging by the form and
substance of Casimir's tomb sarcophagus, the claims made by Elisabeth Habsburg also concerned the crowns of the
Roman King and Emperor coveted by the enemy of the Jagellon dynasty — Matthew Korvin. hated by Elisabeth, who
crowned himself as king of Bohemia (1469) and conquered Vienna (1485). It is not by accident that the figure
of Casimir Jagellon presented on the top slab resembles the figure of Emperor Friedrich III Habsburg as sculptured
on his tomb by Nicholas Gerhaert from Lejda, presumably a teacher of Wit Stwosz (figs. 10. 12). The Polish king
has been presented in a simiiar pose, with the orb in the right and the sceptre in the left hand. dressed in modo
scerdotis robes: alb, amictus and a stiff соре covered with precious stones under which there appears the edge of
the stole. Both rulers hold the sceptres in their left and the orbs in their right hands. This détail distinguished the
crowning of an emperor from the crowning of a king. Kings held their regalia in the opposite way : the orb in
their left and the sceptre in their right hands. The attributes of authority of Emperor Friedrich III Habsburg were,
therefore. repeated on the tomb-sarcophagus of Casimir Jagellon. Casimir's crown has been patterned to imitate Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg's Kegelkrone, whose image is known from Albrecht Diirer's portrait of the Emperor painted
for the Nuremberg Town Hall. This portrait was based on iconographie patterns contemporary of the Emperor. The
crown of the Polish King. although it is an open crown, comparises — just like the Emperor's — a circular band
ornamented with precious stones in the shape of pinnacles and rombs and only feu. broad and high erected cogs
with unusually eich ornaments. The Casimir Jagellon's crown and arrangement of regalia express, therefore. in an
explicit manner, the idea of claims of the Queen and King to the crowns of Roman King and Emperor. It was
Elisabeth's husband and her sons and not Friedrich III Habsburg descending from another Habsburg line than she,
her grandfather and father, and even more so the hated Korvin, were the only true successors to the two crowns on
the distafT side. The fact that the oldest son of Elisabeth Habsburg — Ladislas Jagellon as King of Bohemia and
Hungary, ordered to place, next the portrait of Emperor Charles IV of Luxemburg, his own portrait and his wife
Anna de Foix-Candalle (Prague's cathedral) also reflects the dynastie idea of transferring the Roman emperor's crown
to the Jagellon dynasty, which was also expressed in the symbolic contents of his father's tomb. In accordance with
the generally recognized, médiéval idea, Ladislas Jagellon was presented on his portrait as Christ-Emperor and ruler
of the world. Since Ladislas's mother the moment she ascended the throne. she wished one of her sons to obtain
the emperor's crown. This is why Jan Olbracht, the third of Casimir's sons, who ascended the throne after his
father and ruled in the years 1492-1501. was given at his baptism the second name after his grandfather — the Roman
King Albrecht II Habsburg, and the fifth son — Sigismund called the Old. King of Poland in 1506-1548, was named
after his great grandfather "Sigismund Roman Emperor". This right of succession on the distafT side to thèse two
thrones was emphasized on the tomb-sarcophagus of Casimir Jagellon by placing the coronation sword in lion's paws
next to Elisabeth of Habsburg's coat-of-arms. The imperial arrangement of regalia on Casimir Jagellon's tomb is also
an expression of the political theory prevailing in the Kingdom of Poland during the rule of Casimir the Great according
to which the king was emperor in his kingdom [re.x imperator in régna suo). Casimir Jagellon in his foreign policy
strove consequently towards a complète independence from the Empire and the Holy See and, in his home policy,
to achieve absolute power. It is not accidentai, therefore, that on the sarcophagus he was identified with David as
"Manu fortis" whose figure symbolized the rule of "a strong hand". In this monument to the Polish King. the work
37
Just like Matthew Korvin did on his Florentine miniature, Casimir Jagellon appears on his tombne in a double role.
As David the warrior on the capital and as David-king and priest in full royal stateliness on the top slab (fig. 10).
That this was the intention of the creators of the tomb's iconographie program is supported by the fact that Wit
Stwosz placed on the monarch's chest a medallion showing a naked pregnant women with a covered abdomen among
acantuhus leaves and precious stones (fig. 13). This is Bathseheba as the typological figure of Maria-Ecclesia and
chosen Royal Bride of David as typological figure of Christ. She is. at the same time, a personification of the
anima Christiana of King as David-Christ, who was presented as woman in illustrations to the Book of Psalms. In
patrological commentaries to the Book of Psalms and the Songs of Songs David as the "type" of Christ was called
„Sponsus animae", "Manu fortis" and „Desiderabilis". This is why the closest analogy of this unique composition,
without precedence in European sculpture, of the union of the King in ceremoniał attire with the figure of a naked
woman with a pronouced abdomen, represented on the tomb, can be found in 14th and 15th century illustrations to
David's penitential Psalm 50. They présent the naked Bathseheba in a bath with pronounced abdomen as Salomon's
future mother, watched by a festively clothed David (fig. 15). The commentary to this Psalm includes a médical
motif of curing and purifying the wounds of the original sin and the great mercy and love of the Creator for
fallen human nature. It is not by chance, therefore, the figure of pregnant Bathseheba calls to mind images of
women giving birth, represented in anatomical treatises (fig. 14). The motif of birth itself is an allegorial picture of
a renewed birth of the King from the womb of mother Bathseheba-Maria-Ecclesia to the eternal life in the Garden
of Eden. Then Casimir Jagellon was presented on the capital as David — "Manu fortis", that who defeated the enemies
of Latin Christianitas, the defender of God's people, on the top slab as David — "Desiderabilis", the bridegroom of
Bathseheba-Maria-Ecclesia whose figure is the figure of his beloved wife — Elisabeth Habsburg, mother of six son and
seven daughters. Then a medallion with her figure, encircled by precous stones, represented on the chest of David-Jagellon
is the Biblical "breastplate" decorated with "'rows of stones" which quantity is the quantity of "the children of Izrael"
(Ex. 28, 17-21), denoting the quantity of children of Casimir and Elisabeth. It was she, who — as the granddaughter
of the Emperor and Roman King Sigismund of Luxemburg and daughter of the Roman King Albrecht II. the
only surviving heir to the Bohemian and Hungarian Crown — initiated a new dynastie policy program at the Polish
court. Her objective was to discrédit national monarchs — "usurpres" Georg of Podiebrad and Matthew Korvin. to
enthrone her husband in Bohemia and Hungary and to ensure succession to her sons. Judging by the form and
substance of Casimir's tomb sarcophagus, the claims made by Elisabeth Habsburg also concerned the crowns of the
Roman King and Emperor coveted by the enemy of the Jagellon dynasty — Matthew Korvin. hated by Elisabeth, who
crowned himself as king of Bohemia (1469) and conquered Vienna (1485). It is not by accident that the figure
of Casimir Jagellon presented on the top slab resembles the figure of Emperor Friedrich III Habsburg as sculptured
on his tomb by Nicholas Gerhaert from Lejda, presumably a teacher of Wit Stwosz (figs. 10. 12). The Polish king
has been presented in a simiiar pose, with the orb in the right and the sceptre in the left hand. dressed in modo
scerdotis robes: alb, amictus and a stiff соре covered with precious stones under which there appears the edge of
the stole. Both rulers hold the sceptres in their left and the orbs in their right hands. This détail distinguished the
crowning of an emperor from the crowning of a king. Kings held their regalia in the opposite way : the orb in
their left and the sceptre in their right hands. The attributes of authority of Emperor Friedrich III Habsburg were,
therefore. repeated on the tomb-sarcophagus of Casimir Jagellon. Casimir's crown has been patterned to imitate Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg's Kegelkrone, whose image is known from Albrecht Diirer's portrait of the Emperor painted
for the Nuremberg Town Hall. This portrait was based on iconographie patterns contemporary of the Emperor. The
crown of the Polish King. although it is an open crown, comparises — just like the Emperor's — a circular band
ornamented with precious stones in the shape of pinnacles and rombs and only feu. broad and high erected cogs
with unusually eich ornaments. The Casimir Jagellon's crown and arrangement of regalia express, therefore. in an
explicit manner, the idea of claims of the Queen and King to the crowns of Roman King and Emperor. It was
Elisabeth's husband and her sons and not Friedrich III Habsburg descending from another Habsburg line than she,
her grandfather and father, and even more so the hated Korvin, were the only true successors to the two crowns on
the distafT side. The fact that the oldest son of Elisabeth Habsburg — Ladislas Jagellon as King of Bohemia and
Hungary, ordered to place, next the portrait of Emperor Charles IV of Luxemburg, his own portrait and his wife
Anna de Foix-Candalle (Prague's cathedral) also reflects the dynastie idea of transferring the Roman emperor's crown
to the Jagellon dynasty, which was also expressed in the symbolic contents of his father's tomb. In accordance with
the generally recognized, médiéval idea, Ladislas Jagellon was presented on his portrait as Christ-Emperor and ruler
of the world. Since Ladislas's mother the moment she ascended the throne. she wished one of her sons to obtain
the emperor's crown. This is why Jan Olbracht, the third of Casimir's sons, who ascended the throne after his
father and ruled in the years 1492-1501. was given at his baptism the second name after his grandfather — the Roman
King Albrecht II Habsburg, and the fifth son — Sigismund called the Old. King of Poland in 1506-1548, was named
after his great grandfather "Sigismund Roman Emperor". This right of succession on the distafT side to thèse two
thrones was emphasized on the tomb-sarcophagus of Casimir Jagellon by placing the coronation sword in lion's paws
next to Elisabeth of Habsburg's coat-of-arms. The imperial arrangement of regalia on Casimir Jagellon's tomb is also
an expression of the political theory prevailing in the Kingdom of Poland during the rule of Casimir the Great according
to which the king was emperor in his kingdom [re.x imperator in régna suo). Casimir Jagellon in his foreign policy
strove consequently towards a complète independence from the Empire and the Holy See and, in his home policy,
to achieve absolute power. It is not accidentai, therefore, that on the sarcophagus he was identified with David as
"Manu fortis" whose figure symbolized the rule of "a strong hand". In this monument to the Polish King. the work