Rocznik Historii Sztuki (37.2012)

KRYPTOPORTRETY POLSKICH WŁADCÓW W MALARSTWIE SAKRALNYM XVII I XVIII WIEKU

199

CRYPTO-PORTRAITS OF POLISH RULERS IN SEVENTEENTH
AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RELIGIOUS PAINTINGS

Abstract

This article discusses crypto-portraits, in the broadest sensé of the word, that show Polish elected kings in religious narrative
painting of the 17th and 18th centuries. This phenomenon is introduced against the backdrop of the genesis of the autonomous portrait
and sacred and secular thèmes in the frame of ceremoniał church space. The type of portrait discussed belongs to the category of the
identification portrait that is "hidden" or "disguised", as analyzed by Ladner and G. F. Polleross. The author of this study has narrowed
the subject area to Catholic sacred pictures, whilst extending the formula of the crypto-portrait sensu largo to the assisting portrait,
very popular in provincial art of the Commonwealth until the second half of the 18th century. Crypto-portraits sensu stricte created
likenesses involved in the action on the basis of co-heroes, whilst portraits in assistenza did not transform the identity of a ruler when
adoring a holy protagonist(s) or assisting in an event consecrated by biblical or hagiographie tradition. An intermediate category of
images showed a ruler-commentator of the scène, who addressed the viewer. The author also refers to the issue of pseudo-portraits in
assistenza - pre-portraits, more "meaning" than "showing", likenesses inscribed in the tradition of the médiéval ideogram, subjected
to various degrees of typification, and referring only to concrète appearances of Polish monarchs. Their objective was to incorporate
rulers into the community of the faithful, symbolizing the protection of prayer and ultimately consolidating the collective memory and
territorial bonds as well as developing a common sensé of identity.

This article reveals the existence of many unknown or unacknowledged portraits of Polish kings which refer to Miles Christianus,
in accordance with convention, or which portray the monarchs in coronation robes adoring saints or Holy Persons In creating a parallcl
between the monarch and various holy characters, the similarity of their qualities was acknowledged. The practice of personalising the
content of sacred pictures sometimes led to the use of religious scènes as an excuse to portray the whole court or a wider group of
people - usually related to the figure of the patron. The exceptional dynamism of actualisation in the Catholic religious painting of the
Commonwealth was due to its relevance to the contemporary cultural climate and its intégration with the customs and mentality of
viewers focused on the subjectification. Crypto-portraits usually began with an explicit request by the person funding them. Portraits of
contemporary sovereigns and people involved in current political life, set in scènes of a religious nature, were also inscribed in sacred
narratives as a resuit of the compétition between confraternities and religious orders, and even with the intention of using them as
propaganda. In addition functioning as a "servant of the liturgy," this practice often echoed spécifie events or religious controversies,
in which the discussed likenesses were to serve as ideological models, as well as manifestations of the intercession of secular power.
Likenesses showing sensu stricte Polish elected kings appear to be an intriguing phenomenon when taken in the context of rules of
depicting power. Sigismund III (1566-1632) was portrayed as the king of Babylon looking at St. Annan's miracles, or as King Melchior
adoring Baby Jesus, or as King Kazimierz Jagiellon (1427-1492), praying before the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa. Władysław
IV (1595-1648) was depicted in the church in Krosno as the first Polish king Bolesław I (967-1025), elsewhere as St. Martin, or the
patron saint of the kingdom, St. Casimir (Pelplin). The latter convention, related to the founding myth of the Polish Vasa dynasty, was
used to portray his successor Jan Kazimierz (1609-1672) in the Marble Cabinet at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, who also took on the
identity of Prince Casimir the Just (1138-1194) adoring another national patron, St. Florian. Purposely in contrast with the rest of the
painting, the "appealing figure", abstracted from the intra-pictorial context (Figure du bord, commentateur, metafigurè), called on the
viewer's attention, "taught" him its story, averted his eyes from the superficial meaning towards the more compelling content, determined
the crucial points in the picture, and strengthened the emotional expression of the work, thereby involving the spectator in the artwork's
world and suggesting to him a symbolic meaning of many layers.

(trans, by Katarzyna Krzyżagórska-Pisarek)