DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0037
Roll, the painter, though evidently less talented, proved to be a sharp observer, who, having personally
attended the ceremony, gives us an extraordinarily faithful description of that historic event. The large
number of guilds active in Cracow at the time encompassed practically every trade. There were
apothecaries, barbers, fustian cloth makers, coopers, tawers, tinsmiths, surgeons, carpenters, tanners of
black and red leather, cabdrivers, printers, cooks, comb-makers, book-binders, purse-makers, stone-masons,
hatters, innkeepers, gingerbread-makers, wheel-wrights, chimney-sweeps, pcwtersnuths, coppersmiths,
blacksmiths, stall-keepers, tailors, mead-makers, shopkeepers, cordwain-makers, furriers, painters, bellows-
makers, sword and sabre makers, bricklayers, soap-boilers, cutlers, haberdashers, belt-makers, pate-makers,
bakers, brewers, rope-makers, gunsmiths, fishers, harness-makers, ring-makers, butchers, saddlers,
locksmiths, clockmakers and watchmakers, coach-builders, joiners and cabinet-makers, drapers, brush
makers, shoemakers, glaziers, turners, worsted yarn makers, goldsmiths etc. Of these, only some would
be considered as working in applied art by modern standards. The system of guilds, which had
been evolving since the Middle Ages, long resisted the modern principle by which the fine arts are
set apart from the other crafts and are accorded a higher social standing. In fact, the criteria by which an
object is classified as a work of art are fairly fluid. Not every piece of the goldsmith s, watchmaker s or
book-binder's work need necessarily be a work of art. On the other hand, works of a high artistic standard
may have been produced in guilds of which we have little knowledge today.
Be that as it may, in the Sarmatian period, guilds in the major Polish towns, Cracow in particular,
remained strong and prosperous, and included many masters of foreign, mostly of German, origin.
However, the polonization of the guilds continued uninterruptedly and nothing could stop the process.
In the wedding procession described above the guards of only a few guilds participated. These can be
identified by emblems emblazoned on the great banners they carried: the painters with three silver shields
on their banner, the goldsmiths with a golden chalice, the tailors with a pair of scissors, the furriers
with the pelt of a predatory beast, and the ring-makers with three rings. Guilds from Cracow paraded
in blue and yellow attire in West European style, whereas guilds from Kazimicrz and Stradom wore
costumes half Hungarian and half Polish in style, which may be called a forerunner of national dress.
Thus the Cracow guild guards wore black felt hats adorned with coloured ostrich feathers, yellow jerkins,
blue padded doublets, wide blue breeches, yellow stockings and white or black leather shoes; their
commander rode on horseback carrying his staff of office, foot officers wielded spontoons, and guardsmen
were armed with rapiers and muskets with forked rests; their band had pipes and drums. The guards
in 'national' costume were dressed in black Magyar caps, light-blue knee-length zhupans and loose dehas
over the shoulders; they carried curved swords and battle-axes; their commanders also had staffs of
office and their band consisted of drummers and bagpipers. They were preceded by elite troops in burgonets
armed with circular shields and broadswords.
Two paintings by Johann Christian Mock, at present in the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, arc-
important from the point of view of the later stage of the Baroque and Sarmatian style in Polish culture.
They show military exercises which Augustus (II) the Strong held in the fields of Czerniakow near
Warsaw in 1732. The same event was also depicted in some drawings which show the manoeuvring units
in strictly technical fashion. Troops taking part in the manoeuvres included Polish regiments
trained in foreign fashion, Polish and Saxon lifeguards and Saxon units brought over to Poland
specially for the occasion. Since troops levied in Poland, winged hussars and half-heavy cavalry,
were considered insufficiently well trained to take part in the exercises, some Saxon units were
decked out in Polish fashion. Saxon cuirassiers wearing their breastplates were issued with Polish arm-guards
and winged helmets, and the officers' helmets were additionally adorned with plumes. The Saxon horsemen
were given hussar lances with pennons. The purpose of the manoeuvres was to demonstrate both the
excellent drill of the troops and the splendour of the royal court in all its glory, which Kitowicz described
with so much colourful skill. Mock displayed expert knowledge of his subject and painted the different
troops mustered on Czerniakow fields with extraordinary accuracy making use of his own detailed sketches
from nature. Western style troops were dominant in the manoeuvres, though one unit was fitted out as
junissaries, the officers wearing turbans and curved swords of Hungarian type.
The first picture shows general staff officers dressed in Polish style, headed by the horsetail-standard
bearer in the trappings of a half-heavy cavalry man: a missiourka helmet, coat of mail, arm-guards with
mittens, a white knee-length zhupan, an oriental scimitar and a pair of pistols in holsters; in his right hand
he holds a bunchuk (horsetail standard) with a crimson knob. The apex of the bunchuk is a spike adorned
attended the ceremony, gives us an extraordinarily faithful description of that historic event. The large
number of guilds active in Cracow at the time encompassed practically every trade. There were
apothecaries, barbers, fustian cloth makers, coopers, tawers, tinsmiths, surgeons, carpenters, tanners of
black and red leather, cabdrivers, printers, cooks, comb-makers, book-binders, purse-makers, stone-masons,
hatters, innkeepers, gingerbread-makers, wheel-wrights, chimney-sweeps, pcwtersnuths, coppersmiths,
blacksmiths, stall-keepers, tailors, mead-makers, shopkeepers, cordwain-makers, furriers, painters, bellows-
makers, sword and sabre makers, bricklayers, soap-boilers, cutlers, haberdashers, belt-makers, pate-makers,
bakers, brewers, rope-makers, gunsmiths, fishers, harness-makers, ring-makers, butchers, saddlers,
locksmiths, clockmakers and watchmakers, coach-builders, joiners and cabinet-makers, drapers, brush
makers, shoemakers, glaziers, turners, worsted yarn makers, goldsmiths etc. Of these, only some would
be considered as working in applied art by modern standards. The system of guilds, which had
been evolving since the Middle Ages, long resisted the modern principle by which the fine arts are
set apart from the other crafts and are accorded a higher social standing. In fact, the criteria by which an
object is classified as a work of art are fairly fluid. Not every piece of the goldsmith s, watchmaker s or
book-binder's work need necessarily be a work of art. On the other hand, works of a high artistic standard
may have been produced in guilds of which we have little knowledge today.
Be that as it may, in the Sarmatian period, guilds in the major Polish towns, Cracow in particular,
remained strong and prosperous, and included many masters of foreign, mostly of German, origin.
However, the polonization of the guilds continued uninterruptedly and nothing could stop the process.
In the wedding procession described above the guards of only a few guilds participated. These can be
identified by emblems emblazoned on the great banners they carried: the painters with three silver shields
on their banner, the goldsmiths with a golden chalice, the tailors with a pair of scissors, the furriers
with the pelt of a predatory beast, and the ring-makers with three rings. Guilds from Cracow paraded
in blue and yellow attire in West European style, whereas guilds from Kazimicrz and Stradom wore
costumes half Hungarian and half Polish in style, which may be called a forerunner of national dress.
Thus the Cracow guild guards wore black felt hats adorned with coloured ostrich feathers, yellow jerkins,
blue padded doublets, wide blue breeches, yellow stockings and white or black leather shoes; their
commander rode on horseback carrying his staff of office, foot officers wielded spontoons, and guardsmen
were armed with rapiers and muskets with forked rests; their band had pipes and drums. The guards
in 'national' costume were dressed in black Magyar caps, light-blue knee-length zhupans and loose dehas
over the shoulders; they carried curved swords and battle-axes; their commanders also had staffs of
office and their band consisted of drummers and bagpipers. They were preceded by elite troops in burgonets
armed with circular shields and broadswords.
Two paintings by Johann Christian Mock, at present in the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, arc-
important from the point of view of the later stage of the Baroque and Sarmatian style in Polish culture.
They show military exercises which Augustus (II) the Strong held in the fields of Czerniakow near
Warsaw in 1732. The same event was also depicted in some drawings which show the manoeuvring units
in strictly technical fashion. Troops taking part in the manoeuvres included Polish regiments
trained in foreign fashion, Polish and Saxon lifeguards and Saxon units brought over to Poland
specially for the occasion. Since troops levied in Poland, winged hussars and half-heavy cavalry,
were considered insufficiently well trained to take part in the exercises, some Saxon units were
decked out in Polish fashion. Saxon cuirassiers wearing their breastplates were issued with Polish arm-guards
and winged helmets, and the officers' helmets were additionally adorned with plumes. The Saxon horsemen
were given hussar lances with pennons. The purpose of the manoeuvres was to demonstrate both the
excellent drill of the troops and the splendour of the royal court in all its glory, which Kitowicz described
with so much colourful skill. Mock displayed expert knowledge of his subject and painted the different
troops mustered on Czerniakow fields with extraordinary accuracy making use of his own detailed sketches
from nature. Western style troops were dominant in the manoeuvres, though one unit was fitted out as
junissaries, the officers wearing turbans and curved swords of Hungarian type.
The first picture shows general staff officers dressed in Polish style, headed by the horsetail-standard
bearer in the trappings of a half-heavy cavalry man: a missiourka helmet, coat of mail, arm-guards with
mittens, a white knee-length zhupan, an oriental scimitar and a pair of pistols in holsters; in his right hand
he holds a bunchuk (horsetail standard) with a crimson knob. The apex of the bunchuk is a spike adorned