Rocznik Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie (1(37).2012/2013)

Joanna Sikorska

I Schongauer’s Echo in the Polish Herbal of
1568 by Marcin Siennik
The beginnings of printmaking in the Kingdom of Poland continue to raise more ques-
tions than answers among researchers - and it is a result of many circumstances, not only
of the fact that only some of the early prints that can be associated with Poland have been
preserved.1 Even a selective review of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century written sources re-
veals a significant presence of prints in Poland2 - however, neither the scale of such phe-
nomenon nor the number of these mentioned “sets” of prints can be precisely determined.
Furthermore, such accessibility of prints (most of which probably originated abroad)
might have contributed, to a certain extent, to the delayed development of printmaking in
Poland.3 The analysis of graphic prototypes of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Polish art
remains still the best source of information on the local “collections” of prints during those
times. Such investigations show not only the diversity of the models used, but also the
popularity of that practice in different areas of artistic production. Although many pub-
lications have been devoted to this subject,4 there is still no comprehensive, monographic
study.
Martin Schongauer’s engravings have constituted an important source of inspiration for
Polish art since the 1480s.5 Just like in other countries, Schongauer’s models were mainly used
in religious works, the majority of which had been executed by the 1520s.6 The woodcut illustra-
tion (fig. 1) included in the herbal entitled Herbarz to iestziół tutecznych, postronnych)) zamorskich
opisaniu [Herbal or a Description of Local, Foreign and Overseas Herbs] - a book compiled

1 For example the activity of Krakow playing-card makers is known only from written sources. See Cracovia
impressorumXVetXVIsaeculorum, Joannes Ptaśnik, ed. (Leopoli: sumptibus Instituti Ossoliniani, 1922), nos 80,84,
95-8, no, 123,126. Monumenta Poloniae typographica XV et XVI saeculorum, vol. i; Cracovia artificum 1300-1500,
Jan Ptaśnik, ed., nos 1346,1364. Źródła do Historii Sztuki i Cywilizacji w Polsce, vol. 4.
2 A good example is the last will and testament of the famous Krakow goldsmith Marcin Marcinek drawn up
on 18 August 1517, in which, among the items left in the legacy to his grandson, he lists: “alle kunst am bley ader peppir
geschniczten pilder.” See Cracovia artificum ijoi-ijjo, compiled by Jan Ptaśnik, edited by Marian Friedberg (Krakow:
Państwowa Akademia Umiejętności, 1936), no. 379. Źródła do Historii Sztuki i Cywilizacji w Polsce, vol. 5, fasc. 1.
3 A similar situation can, to a certain extent, be seen in book editions dating from that time (many
significant works were published in printing houses of Mainz, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Metz or Strasbourg). See
Zofia Ameisenowa, Rękopisy i pierwodruki iluminowane Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej (Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im.
Ossolińskich, 1958), pp. 153—5.
4 For the bibliography see Adam S. Labuda, “Les gravures de Schongauer et fart gothique tardif en
Pologne,” in Le beau Martin. Études et mises au point. Actes du colloque organise'par le musée d’Unterlinden à Colmar
les30 septembre, 1er et 2 octobre 1991, Albert Châtelet, ed. (Colmar: Musée d’Unterlinden, 1992), pp. 285-97.
5 Labuda, Les gravures de Schongauer..., op. cit., pp. 288ff.
6 See Pantxika Béguerie, “Postérité de Martin Schongauer,” in Le beau Martin..., op. cit., pp. 453fr.