DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0015
In that early period weaving was already well developed and satisfied the needs for both fine attire and
decoration of interiors, above all churches and monasteries. The many fragmentary pieces of fabrics, found
mainly in the regions of Opole and Gdansk, show that textile crafts represented a high quality in Poland.
Alongside of imported textiles, such as cloth of Flanders and Byzantine silks, there are traces of locally
produced fabrics, mostly of wool. Wool was fulled in fulling-mills, dyed and woven in striped or chequered
designs; fine-spun wool dyed red with vegetable dyes was woven into thin fabrics. Reds were the most
highly prized hues, though greens, yellows and blacks were also used. From contemporary miniatures
we learn that both everyday attire and clothes for festive occasions were made ot colourful patterned
fabrics. It may be assumed that the dress worn in Poland in that period did not differ much from what was
worn in Western Europe. Well preserved examples of footwear, found in Opole, Wroclaw and Gdansk,
testify to the quality of tanning and shoemaking in Poland at the time. Men s shoes were made of soft
leather, had elongated pointed toes and were often embroidered, decorated with spangles (sometimes
made of gold), or at least with designs of grooves and notches.
Everything seems to suggest that carpets and ornamental hangings were highly prized in early medie-
val Poland. Remnants of close-shorn carpets were found in Opole. Ancient chronicles note that as early
as the beginnings of the 12th century, Polish lords were wont to present tapestries as votive offerings
to churches; gifts of magnificent cloth-of-gold scarlet cloaks and mantles were deemed the surest way of
winning friendship or receiving a reward for services rendered. Gallus Anonymus wrote the following
of Ladislaus Herman and his spouse sending votive offerings to St. Gilles in Provence: 'They are sending
gold, silver, cloaks and various other precious gifts, holy vestments and a rich gold chalice.' According
to this chronicler King Boleslaus Wrymouth's offering to the Monastery of Zwiefalten on the Danube
included cloth embroidered with oxen, an ivory chest embossed in gold, crucifixes of gold and silver,
and liturgical vestments, among them 'a cloak intended for a chasuble, all woven with gold threads, framed
with gold bands, with a crimson border at the bottom, which in conformity with that people s custom
[the Polish people] was decorated in gold stars'.
Among the few examples of early medieval art preserved to this day, at least three deserve special
mention, not only on account of their artistic perfection and the ideas they convey, but also because of
the light they shed on the standard and quality of artistic crafts in Poland at the time, regardless of the
extent to which Polish craftsmen shared in their designing and making.
The most striking work of art of that period is the magnificent door of Gniezno Cathedral, dating
from about 11 70. Cast in bronze, almost certainly in a local workshop, it is the work of a master of
Romanesque art, who left his signature in a corner of his masterpiece: 'Luitinus me fecit'. Its eighteen
panels sculptured in bas-relief present scenes from the life and martyrdom of St. Adalbert, surrounded by
a border of entwined plants with figures of men and beasts — both real life and fantastic — referring to
the principal theme of the story. From this great work of art a student of early medieval history can learn
about contemporary festive and everyday attire, attributes of royal and episcopal authority — crowns,
mitres, sceptres arid crosiers — and weapons carried both by Poles and Prussians. Though the artist
made use of the general forms of Romanesque art, the realism of the scenes represented on the door and
their direct connection with contemporary Polish culture are beyond dispute.
In the years 1959—60 in the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity in Wislica two square slabs of
the ancient flooring were uncovered. These white gypsum slabs, dating from c. 11 70—80, bear a draw-
ing formed by deep grooves filled with a black paste. One slab shows three praying figures, a man,
a woman and a youth, in elegant court attire, while the other represents a clergyman, an old man and
a boy. Similarly to the Door of Gniezno Cathedral, each slab has a border with a design of entwined
plants and symbolic beasts. In addition there is an eloquent Latin inscription which may be translated
as follows: 'They want to be trampled upon, so that they may rise to the stars.'
As regards examples of the goldsmith's art ascribed to local workmanship, which in the reign of Mieszko
(III) the Old developed particularly in Great Poland, special mention must be made of the Kalisz Paten,
dating from c. 1193. Partly gilded, the paten is engraved on either side, the style of the engravings being
reminiscent of the Wislica slabs. On one side the engraving shows the Crucified Christ on Adam's grave,
with the Virgin Mary and St. John standing on either side, the prophets Habakkuk and Isaiah, who fore-
told the coming of the Messiah, the Annunciation and the figure of St. Paul. The motifs on the other side
refer to the origins of the chalice (now lost) and the paten which came with it. The donor, Duke Mieszko,
is shown with the recipient of the bequest, Szymon, Abbot of the L^d monastery, with a figure of St.
decoration of interiors, above all churches and monasteries. The many fragmentary pieces of fabrics, found
mainly in the regions of Opole and Gdansk, show that textile crafts represented a high quality in Poland.
Alongside of imported textiles, such as cloth of Flanders and Byzantine silks, there are traces of locally
produced fabrics, mostly of wool. Wool was fulled in fulling-mills, dyed and woven in striped or chequered
designs; fine-spun wool dyed red with vegetable dyes was woven into thin fabrics. Reds were the most
highly prized hues, though greens, yellows and blacks were also used. From contemporary miniatures
we learn that both everyday attire and clothes for festive occasions were made ot colourful patterned
fabrics. It may be assumed that the dress worn in Poland in that period did not differ much from what was
worn in Western Europe. Well preserved examples of footwear, found in Opole, Wroclaw and Gdansk,
testify to the quality of tanning and shoemaking in Poland at the time. Men s shoes were made of soft
leather, had elongated pointed toes and were often embroidered, decorated with spangles (sometimes
made of gold), or at least with designs of grooves and notches.
Everything seems to suggest that carpets and ornamental hangings were highly prized in early medie-
val Poland. Remnants of close-shorn carpets were found in Opole. Ancient chronicles note that as early
as the beginnings of the 12th century, Polish lords were wont to present tapestries as votive offerings
to churches; gifts of magnificent cloth-of-gold scarlet cloaks and mantles were deemed the surest way of
winning friendship or receiving a reward for services rendered. Gallus Anonymus wrote the following
of Ladislaus Herman and his spouse sending votive offerings to St. Gilles in Provence: 'They are sending
gold, silver, cloaks and various other precious gifts, holy vestments and a rich gold chalice.' According
to this chronicler King Boleslaus Wrymouth's offering to the Monastery of Zwiefalten on the Danube
included cloth embroidered with oxen, an ivory chest embossed in gold, crucifixes of gold and silver,
and liturgical vestments, among them 'a cloak intended for a chasuble, all woven with gold threads, framed
with gold bands, with a crimson border at the bottom, which in conformity with that people s custom
[the Polish people] was decorated in gold stars'.
Among the few examples of early medieval art preserved to this day, at least three deserve special
mention, not only on account of their artistic perfection and the ideas they convey, but also because of
the light they shed on the standard and quality of artistic crafts in Poland at the time, regardless of the
extent to which Polish craftsmen shared in their designing and making.
The most striking work of art of that period is the magnificent door of Gniezno Cathedral, dating
from about 11 70. Cast in bronze, almost certainly in a local workshop, it is the work of a master of
Romanesque art, who left his signature in a corner of his masterpiece: 'Luitinus me fecit'. Its eighteen
panels sculptured in bas-relief present scenes from the life and martyrdom of St. Adalbert, surrounded by
a border of entwined plants with figures of men and beasts — both real life and fantastic — referring to
the principal theme of the story. From this great work of art a student of early medieval history can learn
about contemporary festive and everyday attire, attributes of royal and episcopal authority — crowns,
mitres, sceptres arid crosiers — and weapons carried both by Poles and Prussians. Though the artist
made use of the general forms of Romanesque art, the realism of the scenes represented on the door and
their direct connection with contemporary Polish culture are beyond dispute.
In the years 1959—60 in the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity in Wislica two square slabs of
the ancient flooring were uncovered. These white gypsum slabs, dating from c. 11 70—80, bear a draw-
ing formed by deep grooves filled with a black paste. One slab shows three praying figures, a man,
a woman and a youth, in elegant court attire, while the other represents a clergyman, an old man and
a boy. Similarly to the Door of Gniezno Cathedral, each slab has a border with a design of entwined
plants and symbolic beasts. In addition there is an eloquent Latin inscription which may be translated
as follows: 'They want to be trampled upon, so that they may rise to the stars.'
As regards examples of the goldsmith's art ascribed to local workmanship, which in the reign of Mieszko
(III) the Old developed particularly in Great Poland, special mention must be made of the Kalisz Paten,
dating from c. 1193. Partly gilded, the paten is engraved on either side, the style of the engravings being
reminiscent of the Wislica slabs. On one side the engraving shows the Crucified Christ on Adam's grave,
with the Virgin Mary and St. John standing on either side, the prophets Habakkuk and Isaiah, who fore-
told the coming of the Messiah, the Annunciation and the figure of St. Paul. The motifs on the other side
refer to the origins of the chalice (now lost) and the paten which came with it. The donor, Duke Mieszko,
is shown with the recipient of the bequest, Szymon, Abbot of the L^d monastery, with a figure of St.