Status teoretyczny emblematu w polskiej dekoracji

The Theoretical Status of the Emblem in Polish Decorative Art This paper argues that the theoretical status of the emblem in decorative art has methodological significance in emblem studies and art history, comparable to its status in the so-called book’s editorial frame. This claim is justified in the historical and theoretical tradition of defining emblems in the sources. The departure point for the author’s considerations comes from the findings of applied emblematics, and its foundation is provided by the theoretical sources describing symbolic genres (scil. emblema, symbolum, hierogliphicum) published in Poland from the 16th to the 18th century, including books of poetics, rhetoric, dictionaries and compendia. The first part of the article presents an overview of research on decorative emblems in Poland, together with factors responsible for the scarcity of such studies, including the lack of symbolic typology of the decorations, and the division into literary and non-literary studies, motivated by the philological roots of emblem studies. It is noted that the emblemata in the so-called book’s editorial frame and those in decorations should be studied separately, as the latter are of ornamental nature, and require a distinct order of perception, explication, and the recipient’s role. Besides, it is pointed out that the anachronism of the 16th-century formulae of emblema raises problems for the genological classification of Polish decorations, and so does the inter-genre, compendiumtype pattern of symbolism dominant in the 18th century. The second part of the article discusses the definition of the emblema, focusing on its details relevant for the artistic practice and present-day genre classification, such as technique, composition, the content of the image, which is confronted with Polish historical materials. The analysis carried out in the paper supports the claim that providing a genelogical definition of a work of art sheds light on its artistic rendition and aesthetic value. It also enhances the perspective on emblem studies, the workshop of an emblem artist and the reception of the emblem. Additionally, it enables the verification of synthetic accounts and research practice, offering a profound reflection on the chronology and previous conceptions of the emblem. Finally, it helps to formulate postulates, which can be useful for the met

Zbiory emblematyczne w kolekcji Gabinetu Starych Druków Biblioteki Uniwersyteckiej w Warszawie. Przegląd bibliograficzny i proweniencyjny

Collection of Emblems in the Early Printed Books Department of the University of Warsaw Library: An Overview of Bibliography and Provenance Traits This paper presents synthetic information on the exhibition of early printed books from the collection of the Early Printed Books Department of the University of Warsaw Library, organized for the participants of the Seminar on emblems on 23–24 May 2019, at the Artes Liberales Faculty. The goal of this paper is to discuss a selection of emblem books being part of the library collection, with special focus on their provenance. The books are divided into four main thematic groups: 1. Meditative emblems devoted to religion; 2. Emblem literature of formative function 3. Emblems for specific occasions; 4. Emblematic compendia. It is pointed out that a large number of the emblem books under discussion originate from libraries of religious orders.

Polotia recepta. Mapa Księstwa Połockiego – teksty i preteksty sporu o władzę

Polotia recepta. A Map of the Principality of Polatsk: Texts and Pretexts of thePower Dispute This study discusses an important aspect of a political message conveyed by Stanisław Pachołowiecki’s map, published in 1580 by G.B Cavalieri’s printing house in Rome as part of The Atlas of the Principality of Polatsk – Descriptio Ducatus Polocensis. The message in question is one of the paratexts, presenting a detailed historical note on Polatsk and the Principality. The main goal of the study is to prove a double hypothesis, first that the note on Polatsk was a key argument legitimising the rule of Stephen Báthory – contested by Tsar Ivan the Terrible – not only over the small territory under dispute but over the whole Great Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and second, that the decision to aim the first Polish-Lithuanian military offensive in the 1577–1582 war at Polatsk was motivated by political rather than military or strategic considerations. In section I, preliminary assumptions, theses and research methods are presented. Then, in section II, the context of the propaganda campaign, as Pachołowiecki’s map ideological framework, is introduced. This is followed by a critical analysis of the historical note, based on Polish and Ruthenian-Lithuanian sources (III.1). The next section (III.2) demonstrates that Polatsk held a central place in the Muscovite political discourse. Having proclaimed himself a heir to the throne of the Great Duchy and to the crown of Poland, Ivan the Terrible seized the land of Polatsk, and the efficient Muscovite diplomacy started to assert the tsar’s alleged dynastic claim to Lithuania and Poland. In this way, the manipulated history of the “recovered Polatsk”, Polotia recepta, argued to be a historical part of Lithuania, can be seen as a reply to the Muscovite discourse of power drawing on dynastic claims to a non-existent duchy, and the key matter is the legitimisation of elective monarchy as opposed to hereditary one. Having discussed the theatrical and iconic form of the Polish triumph over Ivan the Terrible (III.3), the author highlights the long life of the political myth of the Polatsk statehood and its sign ificance for today’s Belarusian identity discourse.

Dworstwo obyczajów Sebastiana Fabiana Klonowica. Przekład Civilitas morum Erazma z Rotterdamu w spuściźnie poety oraz wydawnicze losy książeczki w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej

Sebastian Fabian Klonowic’s Translation of Civilitas morum by Erasmus of Rotterdam: Its Place in the Poet’s Legacy and Its Publishing History in Poland-Lithuania The article focuses on the Polish rendition of De civilitate morum puerilium – that is, a translation from Reinhard Lorich’s (Hadamarius’) catechismal version of Erasmus’ of Rotterdam treatise. The main goals of the text are: first, to understand the presence of the text (the Polish title: Dworstwo obyczajów) among works of such a talented author as Sebastian Fabian Klonowic; second, to reconstruct the publishing history of the Polish De civilitate; third to argue that forgotten bestsellers, such as Dworstwo, can help to better understand both early modern literature and book market in the first centuries of printing. The article summarises current knowledge about Sebastian Fabian Klonowic (ca. 1545–1602), a prolific poet, but also an author of textbooks and handbooks used to teach Latin and morals, as De civilitate was used as well. It analyses Klonowic’s translation practices and discusses his enthusiasm for Erasmus’ output. It also suggests that the Polish text was written with school usage in mind, probably for students of the newly opened academy established by Polish Brethrens in Raków. Next, the text moves on to describe the publishing history of De civilitate – Erasmus’ manual, its adaptations and translations. The author concentrates on the Polish translation, but the scarce evidence available for this title and its editions in the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania is interpreted in the wider context of the Latin and vernacular editions of De civilitate printed in other European lands. The survey combines information offered by the unique copies preserved in the library collections and the evidence found in archival sources to reconstruct the reasons for the success of the handbook, and to explain why the majority of copies multiplying the text once enormously popular with printers and readers alike were bound to perish. Edition of Dworstwo obyczajów presents the Polish text of Klonowic. It is based on a printed unique copy of about 1603 (held at Ossolineum Library in Wrocław).

Między tęczą a kryształem. Echo u Macieja Kazimierza Sarbiewskiego jako gatunek odbicia w świetle jego komentarza do Summy teologicznej Akwinaty

Between the Rainbow and the Crystal Glass: Echo in Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski as a Species of Refraction in the Light of His Commentary on Summa theologica by Thomas Aquinas The aim of this essay is to highlight an important gap in the research into the works of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640), Jesuit neo-Latin poet and philosopher, namely the fact that his still unpublished lectures on one God in three persons and on angels, held in Vilnius Academy in the years 1631–1633, have remained largely unexplored by researchers so far. The main thesis is that these thomistic commentaries can considerably deepen our understanding of the dialectical and theological context of Sarbiewski’s poetry. For example, they shed new light on his Marian imagery (inter alia, the usage of the invocation ‘purum sine fraude vitrum’), or on his way of avoiding the danger of the infinite regress of concepts as being similar to mirror reflections. The argument concentrates on the figure of echo in two poems: the praise of Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and the ode Secunda leuca seu Vaca as influenced by a new version of the Litany of Loreto (Litaniae Deiparae Virginis Mariae). It makes use of the definition of echo as taught in the Coimbra Jesuit Aristotelian courses. The phenomenon of echo is taken together with other species of refraction: the rainbow and reflection (Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, 98a.24–29), and set against the background of new technologies, such as the production of crystal mirrors.

Ognista miłość. Oda Macieja Kazimierza Sarbiewskiego do Świętego Stanisława Kostki

Fiery Love: Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski’s Ode to Saint Stanislaus Kostka The objective of the article is to provide background for the reading of a new annotated bilingual edition of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski’s ode to Saint Stanislaus Kostka. Written in 1638, when Kostka had not yet been canonized, the ode was published posthumously, many years after the poet’s death. First, the origins of the poem are presented, including the suggestions advanced by Stanisław Łubieński, the bishop of Płock, that Sarbiewski should create odes worshipping Polish saints. Other texts devoted to the venerable young man written by, or attributed to Sarbiewski are also briefly discussed. This is followed by an analysis of the ode, with special focus on its visual and theatrical properties, and on the poet’s emphasis on the mystic experiences of the Jesuit saint and his special bond with Mary. The manner of portraying the saint’s life deployed by Sarbiewski is shown to be modelled on the contemporary iconographic tradition, especially a drawing by Giacomo Lauro, which, copied by an anonymous artist was subsequently included in the collection Icones et miracula sanctorum Poloniae (Cologne 1605). Literary hagiographic works on which Sarbiewski might have drawn – both poetry and prose – are also mentioned. After the introductory section, the ode is presented in two language versions: the original Latin and the new Polish translation. The text is provided with comments detailing historical facts, discussing the ancient similia and elocutionary relations to Sarbiewski’s other texts.

Szkice emblematów Tomasza Tretera

Tomasz Treter’s Emblem Designs This edition and translation of the newly discovered emblem designs by Tomasz Treter (1547–1610) is complementary to Alicja Bielak’s article (this issue) on a manuscript attributed to the Canon of Warmia. Anna Treter’s translation was intended to be faithful to the original in terms of content and style. The edition is based on the manuscript MM 378 from Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai in Bergamo (fol. 9 r.–21 r.). The 25 sketches of emblems to be elaborated on below open Treter’s private notebook, with entries dating from the period between 20 June 1569 and 2 March 1575, as evidenced by the dates inside the codex, which does not exclude the possibility that Treter made corrections and additions after 1575. The notebook includes designs of full-sized emblems with titles, mottos, epigrams and images. Sketches drawn with a quill present a general concept of a composition, without any details (disegni). The title of the notebook was proposed by the editor as the author did not name it. The name written on the spine of the codex (Imprese) is likely to have been supplied later by an unknown person. As far as the themes dealt with in the emblems are concerned, the epigrams are mostly excerpts from the works of Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Augustine and Tertullian, (which was every time cited in the explanatory notes). In the commentary, the sources of graphical inspirations are also traced to Claude Paradin. The other 73 designs from the Bergamo codex, not included in this edition, are sketches of the emblems Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio (Braniewo: Jerzy Schönfels, 1612).

Przekład eklogi pierwszej, O szlachetnej miłości i szczęśliwym jej zakończeniu (De honesto amore et felici eius exitu), ze zbioru Adolescentia Baptysty Mantuana

A Translation of the First Eclogue “Honorable love and its happy outcome” (De honesto amore et felici eius exitu) from the Adolescentia by Battista the Mantuan The article presents a translation of the first eclogue from the 15th-century collection of bucolics Adolescentia by Battista the Mantuan (1447–1516). The eclogue, entitled De honesto amore et felici eius exitu, is supplemented by an introduction and commentary. To this day, two critical editions of the work have been published: by Wilfred Mustard (1911) in English, and by Andrea Severi (2010) in Italian. The introduction presents the author’s biography and gives a brief description of the whole collection, in particular the eclogue under discussion. The Italian poet Battista the Mantuan was a Carmelite and became Blessed of the Catholic Church. A prolific writer, he is best known for his Adolescentia, a collection of bucolics created at a young age, edited and expanded later. Published originally in 1498, Adolescentia quickly gained popularity among readers and were established as school reading. Other issues discussed in the introduction include the sources of Mantuan’s inspiration, the role of the collection in education and in the Reformation, as well as the reception of Adolescentia. It is also pointed out that the first eclogue should be seen in a wider context of Renaissance eclogues exploring the theme of marriage. The interpretation of the eclogue offered in the article draws on its biblical and ancient sources, i.e. the Book of Ruth and Virgil’s eclogues, respectively, as well as the conventions of the genre, especially of elegy, that affected its form.