DOI Heft:
Część I. Museum / Part I. The Museum
DOI Artikel:Fajt, Jiří; Jaeger, Susanne: Międzynarodowa wystawa " Europa Jagellonica" - spotkanie Starej i Nowej Europy: (10 listopada 2012 - 27 stycznia 2013)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45360#0099
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The Museum
his doctorate in ecclesiastical law and in liberal arts in Padua, where he may have commissioned
the plaque later embellished with Roman coins and attached to the gold bowl. After his return
from Italy, he started to work as a scribe at the royal court of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia
and Hungary in Buda; then, in 1496, he became the first secretary to the king. Many famous
scholars from all over Europe, such as the Polish astronomer Marcin Bylica (1433-1493), the
German poet and scholar Conrad Celtis (1459-1508), Bishop of Olomouc Stanislaus Thurzo
(died 1540) and his brother Jan Thurzo, Bishop of Wroclaw (1464 or 1466-1520) could be found
at the court of Vladislaus and among his confidants. It was said that Augustinus had presented
a similar bowl as a gift to Jan Thurzo. As canon of Brno and provost of Olomouc, Augustinus
was a close friend of Conrad Celtis and dedicated some of his works to him. He was in close
contact with several scholarly circles.
Augustinus’s gold bowl may have been used in one of these circles for secret rituals deriving
from the antique traditions of the Platonic Academy and the Dionysian mysteries revived by
the humanists. These rituals were devoted to the cult of the ancient god Bacchus / Dionysus,
who is represented on the central plaque of the bowl as a small winged boy holding grapes in
his hand. He was the god of poetic inspiration and the patron of poets. His wine was said to
lighten up and quicken the spirit of men like wings do to a bird.
Augustinus Olomucensis is a typical representative of the transnational network and the
influential role of early Renaissance scholars in developing the arts and culture in Central
Europe. His bowl (today in the collection of the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden) is one of the
most important works from this period and region, and will be one of the many highlights in
the Warsaw venue of “Europa Jagellonica.”
The Museum
his doctorate in ecclesiastical law and in liberal arts in Padua, where he may have commissioned
the plaque later embellished with Roman coins and attached to the gold bowl. After his return
from Italy, he started to work as a scribe at the royal court of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia
and Hungary in Buda; then, in 1496, he became the first secretary to the king. Many famous
scholars from all over Europe, such as the Polish astronomer Marcin Bylica (1433-1493), the
German poet and scholar Conrad Celtis (1459-1508), Bishop of Olomouc Stanislaus Thurzo
(died 1540) and his brother Jan Thurzo, Bishop of Wroclaw (1464 or 1466-1520) could be found
at the court of Vladislaus and among his confidants. It was said that Augustinus had presented
a similar bowl as a gift to Jan Thurzo. As canon of Brno and provost of Olomouc, Augustinus
was a close friend of Conrad Celtis and dedicated some of his works to him. He was in close
contact with several scholarly circles.
Augustinus’s gold bowl may have been used in one of these circles for secret rituals deriving
from the antique traditions of the Platonic Academy and the Dionysian mysteries revived by
the humanists. These rituals were devoted to the cult of the ancient god Bacchus / Dionysus,
who is represented on the central plaque of the bowl as a small winged boy holding grapes in
his hand. He was the god of poetic inspiration and the patron of poets. His wine was said to
lighten up and quicken the spirit of men like wings do to a bird.
Augustinus Olomucensis is a typical representative of the transnational network and the
influential role of early Renaissance scholars in developing the arts and culture in Central
Europe. His bowl (today in the collection of the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden) is one of the
most important works from this period and region, and will be one of the many highlights in
the Warsaw venue of “Europa Jagellonica.”