DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0027
dences of bishops and abbots. Tapestries were known in late antiquity. In the early Middle Ages this
art reached the Iberian Peninsula with the Arabian conquerors, and then France and Flanders, where it
attained its peak. Fabrics were woven on either drawlooms or horizontal frame looms from fine-spun
wool and silk, sometimes with an addition of gold and silver threads. Arrases were virtually pictures
'painted' in coloured threads and in fact this art was very much akin to painting, since they were made
according to painted cartoons in the I : i scale. Cartoons were designed by some of the greatest masters,
for example Raphael, Rubens, and later Goya, as well as by a host of lesser, often unknown artists. Tape-
stry making was an art requiring collective, strictly coordinated effort. During the Gothic period verdures
or garden tapestries were the most popular type. These were hangings with representations of trees,
shrubs and flowers, with armorial bearings and mottoes of feudal lords among the foliage, and beautifully
executed inscriptions, later also with birds and beasts. Other popular motifs, particularly during the
Renaissance, were scenes with fighting animals [pugna ferrarum). Beginning with the i 5th century, there
appeared tapestries with images of gods, heroes and men, often narrative series taken from the Bible,
lives of saints, ancient history, mythology and chansons de geste, as well as scenes depicting current
events, battles and war expeditions in particular.
Documentary sources indicate that Arrases were first brought to medieval Poland from Flanders,
alongside other works of art. The tradition of importing tapestries from Flanders was continued by the
last two rulers of the Jagiellon dynasty. Several hundred tapestries representing the best of Renaissance
Flemish style were ordered mostly in Brussels. Though made in Flanders by Flemish artists these tapestries
must be included in Polish artistic culture, above all because the general idea of most of them must have
originated in Poland. From Poland, too, came various themes and motifs, such as armorial bearings and
monograms. Of the tapestries ordered in Brussels by the Jagiellons, 137 have survived. The majority
of them are to be seen in Wawel Castle; five, including one presented by the Soviet government, have
been transferred to the Royal Castle in Warsaw. There are among them Arrases with the royal coats-of-
arms and initials, verdures with animals and birds, and narrative scenes from the Old Testament — for
example the story of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel and the Flood. The cartoons
for the biblical series were painted by Michael Coxie, a Flemish artist influenced by the Italian Renaissance,
in particular Michelangelo and Raphael. First mention of tapestries in Wawel Castle comes from
a description of ceremonies held there on the occasion of the wedding of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza
in 1 518. Tapestries often arrived in Poland as part of dowries of royal brides, but equally often they
left the country together with princesses being married to foreign royalty. It seems that the greatest
popularity in Poland was enjoyed by tapestries with biblical themes (for example Abraham, Saul and
Absalom, Moses, Nebuchadnezzar), mythological subjects (Paris and Helen, Romulus and Remus), as
well as historical themes (Hannibal, or Julius Caesar).
The royal example was followed by secular and Church dignitaries who imported tapestries,
mostly emblazoned with their armorial bearings, from Flanders. Occasionally, tapestries were offered
as gifts. The tapestry which now hangs in Wawel Castle behind the throne in the Deputies' Hall was
ordered by Krzysztof Krupski, a courtier of Sigismund Augustus. It carries Krupskfs armorial bearings
(Korczak), the date 1560, the Polish Eagle and the royal initials as well as the inscription: 'Scabellum
Pedum Tuorum' (Your Footstool).
There is nothing to show that Flemish-style Arrases were made in 1 6th century Poland, though this
possibility cannot be excluded, since itinerant Flemish weavers occasionally visited this country. Local
weaving shops did not appear before the 17th century, but though modelled on Flemish tapestries,
Polish products could never compare with them. Some 17th century Polish tapestries have been
preserved. Four Arrases belonging to the Credo series, with allegorical representations of the tenets
of the Roman Catholic faith, are now to be seen in the National Museum in Warsaw; two Arrases with
St. Matthew and St. Mark — probably from the Four Evangelists series — and with the coat-of-arms
of the Kiezgajllo-Zawisza family, are in the Czartoryski Collection in Cracow. The latter demonstrate
a certain severity of style, linear treatment of design and monotonous sandy-brown colours, with occasion-
al patches of blue and pink. The combination of these characteristics lends the tapestries a specific dignity,
with traces of late Byzantine and Ruthenian influence, which is perfectly understandable in view of their
Lithuanian provenance.
Eastern knotted-pile rugs competed with Gobelins as splendid embellishments of noble, residences
and patrician homes. Rugs were made on standing looms; pieces of coloured wool or sometimes silk
art reached the Iberian Peninsula with the Arabian conquerors, and then France and Flanders, where it
attained its peak. Fabrics were woven on either drawlooms or horizontal frame looms from fine-spun
wool and silk, sometimes with an addition of gold and silver threads. Arrases were virtually pictures
'painted' in coloured threads and in fact this art was very much akin to painting, since they were made
according to painted cartoons in the I : i scale. Cartoons were designed by some of the greatest masters,
for example Raphael, Rubens, and later Goya, as well as by a host of lesser, often unknown artists. Tape-
stry making was an art requiring collective, strictly coordinated effort. During the Gothic period verdures
or garden tapestries were the most popular type. These were hangings with representations of trees,
shrubs and flowers, with armorial bearings and mottoes of feudal lords among the foliage, and beautifully
executed inscriptions, later also with birds and beasts. Other popular motifs, particularly during the
Renaissance, were scenes with fighting animals [pugna ferrarum). Beginning with the i 5th century, there
appeared tapestries with images of gods, heroes and men, often narrative series taken from the Bible,
lives of saints, ancient history, mythology and chansons de geste, as well as scenes depicting current
events, battles and war expeditions in particular.
Documentary sources indicate that Arrases were first brought to medieval Poland from Flanders,
alongside other works of art. The tradition of importing tapestries from Flanders was continued by the
last two rulers of the Jagiellon dynasty. Several hundred tapestries representing the best of Renaissance
Flemish style were ordered mostly in Brussels. Though made in Flanders by Flemish artists these tapestries
must be included in Polish artistic culture, above all because the general idea of most of them must have
originated in Poland. From Poland, too, came various themes and motifs, such as armorial bearings and
monograms. Of the tapestries ordered in Brussels by the Jagiellons, 137 have survived. The majority
of them are to be seen in Wawel Castle; five, including one presented by the Soviet government, have
been transferred to the Royal Castle in Warsaw. There are among them Arrases with the royal coats-of-
arms and initials, verdures with animals and birds, and narrative scenes from the Old Testament — for
example the story of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the Tower of Babel and the Flood. The cartoons
for the biblical series were painted by Michael Coxie, a Flemish artist influenced by the Italian Renaissance,
in particular Michelangelo and Raphael. First mention of tapestries in Wawel Castle comes from
a description of ceremonies held there on the occasion of the wedding of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza
in 1 518. Tapestries often arrived in Poland as part of dowries of royal brides, but equally often they
left the country together with princesses being married to foreign royalty. It seems that the greatest
popularity in Poland was enjoyed by tapestries with biblical themes (for example Abraham, Saul and
Absalom, Moses, Nebuchadnezzar), mythological subjects (Paris and Helen, Romulus and Remus), as
well as historical themes (Hannibal, or Julius Caesar).
The royal example was followed by secular and Church dignitaries who imported tapestries,
mostly emblazoned with their armorial bearings, from Flanders. Occasionally, tapestries were offered
as gifts. The tapestry which now hangs in Wawel Castle behind the throne in the Deputies' Hall was
ordered by Krzysztof Krupski, a courtier of Sigismund Augustus. It carries Krupskfs armorial bearings
(Korczak), the date 1560, the Polish Eagle and the royal initials as well as the inscription: 'Scabellum
Pedum Tuorum' (Your Footstool).
There is nothing to show that Flemish-style Arrases were made in 1 6th century Poland, though this
possibility cannot be excluded, since itinerant Flemish weavers occasionally visited this country. Local
weaving shops did not appear before the 17th century, but though modelled on Flemish tapestries,
Polish products could never compare with them. Some 17th century Polish tapestries have been
preserved. Four Arrases belonging to the Credo series, with allegorical representations of the tenets
of the Roman Catholic faith, are now to be seen in the National Museum in Warsaw; two Arrases with
St. Matthew and St. Mark — probably from the Four Evangelists series — and with the coat-of-arms
of the Kiezgajllo-Zawisza family, are in the Czartoryski Collection in Cracow. The latter demonstrate
a certain severity of style, linear treatment of design and monotonous sandy-brown colours, with occasion-
al patches of blue and pink. The combination of these characteristics lends the tapestries a specific dignity,
with traces of late Byzantine and Ruthenian influence, which is perfectly understandable in view of their
Lithuanian provenance.
Eastern knotted-pile rugs competed with Gobelins as splendid embellishments of noble, residences
and patrician homes. Rugs were made on standing looms; pieces of coloured wool or sometimes silk