DOI article:
Miodońska, Barbara: Rex regum i rex Poloniae w dekoracji malarskiej Graduału Jana Olbrachta i Pontyfikału Erazma Ciołka: z zagadnień ikonografii władzy królewskiej w sztuce polskiej wieku XVI
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26594#0237
SUMMARY
of the hfteenth century. It takes the form of a genera] instruction on how an act of
this kind should be performed. The initial S of the Christian name of the vassal prob-
ably refers to Stefan the Great, Hospodar of Moldavia, who did homage to Casimir IV
Jagiellon in 1485.
In contradistinction to the descriptive realism of the representation of feudal hom-
age in the German Li&ri /eMcforam. (ill. 145) at the end of the hfteenth century; the min-
iature in Ciolek's Pontifical is not a description but an epitome of the scene. It reveals
elements of the act of homage which aie important from the ideological point of
view. This character is confirmed by comparison with the tenor of the formula for the
ceremonies of homage recognized in Poland in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
and with the accounts of the chroniclers. The Polish feudal ceremonial differed from
the German form, which was used for the first time in the Kingdom of Poland in 1525.
The miniature apotheosizes the ruler, showing him according to the iconographic
formula used in the fifteenth century in pictures of God in Majesty and His Mother
surrounded by angels and saints, and derived from Late Classical conceptions of maj-
esty (e. g. a portrait of a ruler with his satellites). The canopy, the golden background,
the rayed aureole around the king are allusions to his sacra Mafes^as. As in the En-
thronement scene, the king is seated on the throne m apparaiM mżegro, accompanied
by armed standard-bearers carrying scarlet banners. This time both the temporal and
spiritual dignitaries surrounding the king appear as "prelates and barons of His Ma-
jesty's Council", and not as representatives of the spiritual and temporal estates.
The canopy is adorned with coats of arms: the Polish Eagle, the Lithuanian "Pogoń"
(the Armed Rider), and the crest of the Habsburgs, included by the Jagiellons in their
family cognizances after the marriage of Elisabeth Habsburg to Casimir IV Jagiellon.
The canopy covers not only His Majesty the King, but also the members of his council,
who have a share in the government of the State.
The sacral character of the king's person is emphasized by his attire. The crown
is of the closed form, as in the scene of the Enthronement. It cannot be decided from
written sources and iconographic transmissions whether before 1525, i. e. the date
of the homage paid to Sigismund I by Albrecht Hohenzollern for part of Prussia, the
dress of the Polish king when receiving homage was of a fully sacral character, like the
imperial attire, or whether the king merely donned a cape (coppa, p/awafe) over
his kn ghtly costume (ills. 153-153).
The vassals are merely heads at the feet of the king and arms outstretched in the
gesture of oath-taking. The miniaturist did not represent the act of handing over
the banners, the symbolical expression of the political and legal substance of the cer-
emony of homage. He showed the taking of the oath, since this was part of the litur-
gical stratum of the ceremony, and a pontifical is a liturgical book. There are two
vassals; one is dressed in western and the other in oriental fashion. It may be assumed
that by this the miniaturist wished to illustrate the royal sovereignty over the "western"
(Mazovia and Prussia) and "eastern" (Moldavia) vassal States. The history of Poland
at the turn of the hfteenth century records several political treaties with the Sultan
of Turkey and with the Tartar khan's of the hordes of Zawołże and the Crimea, though
the relations of Poland with the Turko-Tartar world were not of a feudal character.
The figures in oriental dress introduced into the scenes of the Homage and the En-
thronement of the king in Ciolek's Pontifical are an element of a wider phenomenon,
the vogue for oriental motifs in European medieval and renaissance art. One of the
successive intensifications of this vogue may be observed c. 1500, when Turkey was
threatening Eastern and Southern Europe. At the beginning of the sixteenth century
the invasion of Polish art by oriental figures and costumes was clearly marked as a re-
of the hfteenth century. It takes the form of a genera] instruction on how an act of
this kind should be performed. The initial S of the Christian name of the vassal prob-
ably refers to Stefan the Great, Hospodar of Moldavia, who did homage to Casimir IV
Jagiellon in 1485.
In contradistinction to the descriptive realism of the representation of feudal hom-
age in the German Li&ri /eMcforam. (ill. 145) at the end of the hfteenth century; the min-
iature in Ciolek's Pontifical is not a description but an epitome of the scene. It reveals
elements of the act of homage which aie important from the ideological point of
view. This character is confirmed by comparison with the tenor of the formula for the
ceremonies of homage recognized in Poland in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
and with the accounts of the chroniclers. The Polish feudal ceremonial differed from
the German form, which was used for the first time in the Kingdom of Poland in 1525.
The miniature apotheosizes the ruler, showing him according to the iconographic
formula used in the fifteenth century in pictures of God in Majesty and His Mother
surrounded by angels and saints, and derived from Late Classical conceptions of maj-
esty (e. g. a portrait of a ruler with his satellites). The canopy, the golden background,
the rayed aureole around the king are allusions to his sacra Mafes^as. As in the En-
thronement scene, the king is seated on the throne m apparaiM mżegro, accompanied
by armed standard-bearers carrying scarlet banners. This time both the temporal and
spiritual dignitaries surrounding the king appear as "prelates and barons of His Ma-
jesty's Council", and not as representatives of the spiritual and temporal estates.
The canopy is adorned with coats of arms: the Polish Eagle, the Lithuanian "Pogoń"
(the Armed Rider), and the crest of the Habsburgs, included by the Jagiellons in their
family cognizances after the marriage of Elisabeth Habsburg to Casimir IV Jagiellon.
The canopy covers not only His Majesty the King, but also the members of his council,
who have a share in the government of the State.
The sacral character of the king's person is emphasized by his attire. The crown
is of the closed form, as in the scene of the Enthronement. It cannot be decided from
written sources and iconographic transmissions whether before 1525, i. e. the date
of the homage paid to Sigismund I by Albrecht Hohenzollern for part of Prussia, the
dress of the Polish king when receiving homage was of a fully sacral character, like the
imperial attire, or whether the king merely donned a cape (coppa, p/awafe) over
his kn ghtly costume (ills. 153-153).
The vassals are merely heads at the feet of the king and arms outstretched in the
gesture of oath-taking. The miniaturist did not represent the act of handing over
the banners, the symbolical expression of the political and legal substance of the cer-
emony of homage. He showed the taking of the oath, since this was part of the litur-
gical stratum of the ceremony, and a pontifical is a liturgical book. There are two
vassals; one is dressed in western and the other in oriental fashion. It may be assumed
that by this the miniaturist wished to illustrate the royal sovereignty over the "western"
(Mazovia and Prussia) and "eastern" (Moldavia) vassal States. The history of Poland
at the turn of the hfteenth century records several political treaties with the Sultan
of Turkey and with the Tartar khan's of the hordes of Zawołże and the Crimea, though
the relations of Poland with the Turko-Tartar world were not of a feudal character.
The figures in oriental dress introduced into the scenes of the Homage and the En-
thronement of the king in Ciolek's Pontifical are an element of a wider phenomenon,
the vogue for oriental motifs in European medieval and renaissance art. One of the
successive intensifications of this vogue may be observed c. 1500, when Turkey was
threatening Eastern and Southern Europe. At the beginning of the sixteenth century
the invasion of Polish art by oriental figures and costumes was clearly marked as a re-