and Porcupine

Over Door Tapestry with the Arms of Poland on landscape background with Animals ‒ Beaver and Porcupine
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Author after a cartoon by an artist from the circle of Cornelis Floris and Cornelis Bos Date of production ca. 1555 Place of creation Brussels Dimensions height: 109 cm, width: 250 cm Author's designation in the top right corner denotation: N°IA ID no. ZKWawel 65 Museum Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection Availability in stock Subjects authority, nature Technique weaving Material wool, silk, silver thread, gold thread Collector collection of King Sigismund Augustus •
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Object copyright Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection Digital images copyright public domain Digitalisation RDW MIC, 2015 Tags Wawel, renesans, herb, król, zwierzęta, rośliny One of sixteen over­door and over­window tapestries with the coats of arms of both parts of the Commonwealth. They were counterparts of large heraldic tapestries and their purpose was to fill the castle with heraldic motifs of national importance. Their format was adapted to the architecture of Wawel. They were produced as part of the programme for complete decoration of representative chambers with Brussels tapestries.
In the middle of the over­door textile (designed to be put up above a portal) arched at the top, there is the coat of arms of Poland surmounted by a closed crown (the White Eagle with the initials SA on its breast), against a background of a vast landscape.
The landscape background is obscured by two huge garlands of fruit and leaves, supported by lion masks in the middle and at the ends. On the sides of the escutcheon, the following animals are placed: on the left – a beaver with an eel in its mouth, bringing prey to its young, and on the right ‒ a porcupine. It is likely that models for those perfectly rendered quadrupeds were provided by the same designers who painted cartoons for the verdures of the Polish King’s collection.
Elaborated by Magdalena Piwocka (Wawel Royal Castle), editorial team of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums, CC­BY 3.0 PL
Historia kolekcji arrasów Zygmunta Augusta
Zygmunt August zamówił część tkanin prawdopodobnie około 1548 roku. Według Wychwalnika weselnego Stanisława Orzechowskiego (Panagyricus Nuptiarum Sigimundi Augusti Poloniae Regis, wyd. 1553) trzy serie tapiserii (Dzieje pierwszych rodziców, Dzieje Mojżesza i Dzieje Noego) już 30 lipca 1553 roku zdobiły wnętrza zamku wawelskiego z okazji uroczystości weselnych Zygmunta Augusta i Katarzyny Habsburżanki. Przyjmuje się, że po tym roku król zamówił kolejne grupy tkanin, a około 1560 roku cała kolekcja znajdowała się już w jego posiadaniu.
W testamencie z 1571 roku bezpotomny Zygmunt August zapisał kolekcję arrasów swoim trzem siostrom: Zofii – księżnej brunszwickiej, Katarzynie – królowej szwedzkiej i Annie – przyszłej królowej Polski. Według woli króla, po ich śmierci kolekcja miała przejść na własność Rzeczypospolitej. Jeszcze w 1572 roku arrasy złożono w zamku królewskim w Tykocinie, następnie zaś rozdzielono między królewskie rezydencje (Kraków, Niepołomice, Grodno, Warszawa). W 1578 roku Anna przekazała część tego zbioru do Sztokholmu jednej ze spadkobierczyń – Katarzynie, natomiast zrządzeniem losu powrócił on do Polski w 1587 lub 1591 roku razem z synem tej ostatniej – Zygmuntem III Wazą.
Tradycyjnie tapiserie stanowiły oprawę artystyczną najważniejszych królewskich uroczystości, również po śmierci Zygmunta Augusta. Towarzyszyły jego ceremonii pogrzebowej w 1572 roku, a także koronacji Henryka Walezego w 1574 roku. Po tych wydarzeniach wróciły do swojej funkcji dopiero w 1592 roku, kiedy ozdobiły komnaty wawelskie podczas pierwszego wesela Zygmunta III Wazy z Anną Austriaczką, jak również drugiego – z jej siostrą Konstancją w 1605 roku. Zygmuntowskie arrasy stanowiły też dekorację kolegiaty św. Jana i zamku królewskiego w Warszawie podczas ślubu Władysława IV z Cecylią Renatą we wrześniu 1637 roku.
W czasie potopu szwedzkiego (1655–1657), kolekcję asekuracyjnie wywieziono w nieznane miejsce. Wbrew woli Zygmunta Augusta, arrasy traktowane przez ówczesnego króla Jana Kazimierza jak własność prywatna, stały się przedmiotem rozgrywek abdykującego władcy. Ekskról wziął pożyczkę pod zastaw „Opon Potopowych” (jak określano wówczas zbiorczo tapiserie), która została przekazana Franciszkowi Grattcie, gdańskiemu bankierowi i kupcowi. Następnie Jan Kazimierz w 1669 roku, aby zapewnić sobie zagwarantowaną mu prowizje pieniężną i ją regulować, polecił Grattcie ukryć arrasy. Mimo tej prywaty, w lutym 1670 roku kolekcja została wypożyczona z „tajemniczego” miejsca przechowywania w celu ozdobienia klasztoru i kościoła oo. Paulinów na Jasnej Górze z okazji ślubu Michała Korybuta Wiśniowieckiego z Eleonorą Habsburżanką oraz dla dekoracji kolegiaty św. Jana w Warszawie podczas koronacji Eleonory. Śmierć Jana Kazimierza nie rozwiązała sprawy, gdyż do będących wciąż w zastawie arrasów roszczenia mieli następnie spadkobierca ekskróla i Rzeczypospolita. W 1673 roku uchwalono Deklarację o Potopie, zgodnie z którą do kolekcji arrasów pretensje mogła mieć wyłącznie Rzeczpospolita i ona jedyna mogła je wykupić, co też się stało, ale dopiero w 1724 roku. Odzyskaną kolekcję tkanin złożono w klasztorze oo. Karmelitów Bosych w Warszawie. Od tej pory arrasy należały do Skarbu Koronnego, którym zajmowali się kolejni podskarbiowie. Były używane między innymi podczas świąt Bożego Ciała, a także do dekoracji kolegiaty św. Jana i zamku warszawskiego z okazji koronacji Stanisława Augusta Poniatowskiego w 1768 roku.
Od 1785 roku kolekcję przechowywano w Pałacu Rzeczypospolitej pełniącym funkcję archiwum państwowego. Dziesięć lat później, w listopadzie 1795 roku, podczas oblężenia Warszawy przez wojska zaborcy, z rozkazu Katarzyny II tkaniny zostały zrabowane i wywiezione do magazynów Pałacu Taurydzkiego w Petersburgu. Po 1860 roku rozdzielono kolekcję arrasów, której część wykorzystano do dekoracji Pałacu Zimowego w Petersburgu i carskich rezydencji w Gatczynie i Liwadii na Krymie, natomiast kolejne części przekazano do Muzeum Stajni Dworskich, zbiorów Akademii Sztuk Pięknych i Dyrekcji Teatrów. Dopiero po stu dwudziestu sześciu latach, na mocy postanowień traktatu ryskiego z 1921 roku rewindykowano większą część dawnej kolekcji arrasów ze Związku Radzieckiego, której zwrot realizowany partiami trwał do 1928 roku.
W momencie wybuchu II wojny światowej, we wrześniu 1939 roku, podjęto decyzję o wywiezieniu z Polski arrasów wraz z innymi dziełami ze skarbca wawelskiego. Zabytki ewakuowano przez Rumunię do Francji, gdzie w ośrodku tkackim w Aubusson poddane zostały reperacji. Jednak z czasem po złamaniu oporu francuskiego, w obliczu zagrożenia skarby przetransportowano drogą morską do Anglii. Ta ostatnia również okazała się niebezpiecznym miejscem z powodu rozpoczynającej się bitwy o Anglię. Wobec tej sytuacji dzieła przewieziono na polskim statku Batorym do Kanady, gdzie przebywały w bardzo dobrych warunkach. Po zakończeniu wojny władze tego państwa zwlekały z oddaniem depozytu w związku z zagrożeniami wynikającymi ze zmian ustroju i władzy w Polsce po 1945 roku. Szczególny opór w sprawie zwrotu arrasów stawiał ich ówczesny opiekun w Quebec – Maurice Duplessis. Zagrożenie przywłaszczenia arrasów przez rząd kanadyjski wywołało ogromny skandal i burzę zarówno w kraju, jak i wśród polskich władz emigracyjnych. Dopiero po śmierci Duplessisa w 1959 roku, dzięki licznym interwencjom i wielkiemu staraniu wybitnych polskich osobistości odzyskano arrasy, które wróciły na Wawel w lutym 1961 roku.
Dwie spośród rozpoznanych tapiserii z dawnej kolekcji Zygmunta Augusta znajdują się poza Wawelem. Pierwsza tkanina – Upadek moralny ludzkości z serii Dzieje Noego, odnaleziona na Kremlu, powróciła do Polski dopiero w 1977 roku jako dar władz radzieckich dla odbudowywanego wówczas zamku warszawskiego, w którym się dziś znajduje. Natomiast druga – jedyny zachowany w całości arras nadokienny – dostał się z Rosji niewiadomą drogą na rynek antykwaryczny. Zakupiony przez Rijksmuseum w Amsterdamie, od 1952 roku stanowi część jego zbiorów. Opracowanie: Magdalena Ozga (Zamek Królewski na Wawelu), Redakcja WMM, © wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone
Tags: World War II, fabric, Renaissance, manor house, ceremony, Russia, Wawel, event, King Splendour, Representation, and Politics – Heraldic and Monogram and Tapestries
Decorating walls with precious textiles added grandeur and significance to modest interiors. It is known from preserved descriptions and inventories that European rulers highly valued this artwork and loved being surrounded with tapestries since they added splendour to their owners. Tapestries were ordered for specific chambers of a ruler's residence as they performed relevant functions in a given space, expressed through the subject matter of their presentations. A special place in the entire collection of Sigismund II Augustus was occupied by monogram and heraldic tapestries, commissioned probably after 1553 (around 1555). Their subject matter and set of motifs expressed a precisely defined agenda directly related to the person of the ruler and his country.
This kind of monarchical textile originates as far back as in the Byzantine tradition. Heraldic tapestries were very popular from the late Middle Ages, for example those of the millefleur type, in which coats of arms of rulers were depicted against a meadow with a thousand flowers. Such goods of a typically court and stately nature were produced in Audenarde and Tournai in the fifteenth century and in Brussels in the sixteenth century.
We learn from Panegyric by Stanisław Orzechowski where the first three series of tapestries with scenes from Genesis comissioned by Sigismund II Augustus were presented. Their dimensions and subject matter determined their function, first as a decoration of interiors (of private and representative rooms such as the Tournament Hall, the Envoys' Room and the Military Review Room) and then as a setting for the most important royal ceremonies. In contrast, monogram and heraldic tapestries were intended for official audience chambers. Their function was emphasised by the language of forms relating to the circle of royal symbols and emblems, as well as moral didacticism, which was to glorify the power and politics of the state.
The first group consists of monogram tapestries, those in which the king's initials SA – Sigismundus Augustus – appear. The intertwined initials of the ruler, surmounted by a closed crown, formed a personal sign of Sigismund II Augustus, which was also his supralibros (the proprietary mark of a book collection). The SA monogram is present in the tapestries of King Sigismund in several variants. It appears in a cartouche or medallion, surrounded by Netherlandish grotesque, as well as on a forest background, accompanied by two satyrs – shield bearers. A culmination of this group of textiles is the most impressive tapestry among them – the monogram tapestry with a globe. Individual elements of its composition can be interpreted symbolically; however, its most important element is the title globe, which, in the context of the royal initials, refers to the majesty of authority – therefore, it is the most representative.
Heraldic tapestries form a group of textiles bearing a meaning associated strictly with the state of Sigismund II Augustus. The king commissioned the whole series of fabrics which constituted an interpretation of his political agenda. Being aware of the fact that he had no heir, Sigismund II Augustus strived to strengthen bonds between the Commonwealth and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania throughout the entire period of his reign, especially towards the end of his life. Many years of efforts resulted in the Union of Lublin signed in 1569, which united the two nations under the rule of one king. Commissioning of heraldic tapestries even before the union, around 1555, seemed to be a resolute political measure, in which art was a tool used to propagate the royal agenda.
In all the textiles of the latter group there are presented the coats of arms of the Commonwealth – the Eagle with the SA monogram on its chest, whose shield is surmounted by a crown – and the coats of arms of Lithuania – the Charging Knight with a shield closed with a ducal cap. Heraldic tapestries can be divided into two types.
The first one presents both coats of arms together against a grotesque in the background, accompanied by the goddesses Ceres or Victoria. Because of their sizes and strong propaganda overtones, these are the most impressive variants of this group. The figure of Ceres in the context of the coats of arms symbolises prosperity and wealth resulting from economic ties between the two nations. The meaning of these economic relations is enhanced by bunches of ripe fruit and vegetables. Victoria standing on a stack of militaria with a broken spear and a laurel wreath in her hands represents the peace and victory that was to be brought to the united Kingdom by a common foreign policy (especially in the era of the contemporary threat for the Duchy from the tsar of Russia – Ivan IV the Terrible). This heraldic tapestries from the group of grotesques are intentionally presented against a red background. With their colours, they refer to the ancient prototype of this ornament and, above all, to the imperial purple indicating the regal splendour. Intense colours of tapestries stood out from colours of interiors of the castle chambers, adding splendour and official character thereto.
The second type of heraldic tapestries are over­window and over­door textiles, which present a single coats of arms against the background of a mannerist landscape with animals; therefore, they belong to landscape and animal tapestries (verdures).
Making use of art to demonstrate the royal power and state policy was natural; this method was used both in the Commonwealth and throughout Europe at that time. For this purpose, Sigismund II Augustus used very stately and valuable tapestries not every ruler could afford, which added splendour to his court and testified to the greatness of the state governed by the Jagiellonian king.
Elaborated by Paulina Kluz (Editorial Team of Małopolska's Virtual Museums), CC­BY 3.0 PL
Bibliography:
Maria Bernasikowa, Arrasy Zygmunta Augusta świadkiem królewskich uroczystości (The tapestries of Sigismund Augustus as a witness of royal ceremonies), [in:] Theatrum ceremoniale na dworze książąt i królów polskich (Theatrum ceremoniale at the court of Polish kings and princes), proceedings of the academic conference organised by the Wawel Castle and the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University on 23­25 March 1998, Mariusz Markiewicz, Ryszard Skowrona (eds.), Kraków 1999, pp. 255–
265;
Magdalena Piwocka, Arrasy z groteskami (Tapestries with grotesques), [in:] Arrasy wawelskie (The Wawel Tapestries), edited by Jerzy Szablowski, Anna Misiąg­Bocheńska, Maria Hennel­Bernasikowa, Magdalena Piwocka, Warszawa 1994, pp. 271–348;
Magdalena Piwocka, Arrasy Zygmunta Augusta (The Tapestries of Sigismund Augustus), Kraków 2007.
Tags: fabric, coat of arms, Renaissance, manor house, Wawel, King Textile Decoration of Interiors. Groups of Small Tapestries from the Collection of Sigismund Augustus and Their Function
Decorative textiles, such as tapestries, constituted a decoration for chambers of the Royal Residence, adding splendour and a stately nature thereto. All tapestries commissioned by King Sigismund Augustus, from large­format to quite small ones, had specific functions in the residence interiors, aside from their artistic value.
Forms and sizes of certain categories of textiles were adjusted directly to the place of their destination; therefore, they were closely related to architecture. These groups include small tapestries complementing the decor of the castle interiors, namely over­window, under­window, over­door and upholstery tapestries.
Textiles in a shape similar to a rectangle, ended with a segmental arch, could serve as over­window tapestries, mounted over the upper straight­ended window frame (see: Tapestry with the Arms of Poland on a Landscape Background with Animals – a Dormouse and a dog­like Predator ) and over­door tapestries mounted above a doorway lintel (see: Tapestry with the Arms of Lithuania on a Landscape Background with Animals ‒ Spotted Hyena and Monkey ).
It was different in the case of over­window tapestries intended to hang “over arches.” These were the arcade tapestries (in formam arcus), which, being in the shape of a semicircularly­ended window frame, were cut in the form of an arc at the bottom and were straight at the top. At present, in the Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection there are only fragments (e.g. arch areas) of such tapestries, since the straps joining them into a whole were cut out in the nineteenth century during their stay in Russia (see: Tapestry with Figures holding Cornuncopias). The only tapestry of this type preserved as a whole is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Its large spread (a width of 420 cm) lets one guess its function – it could have been a decoration of a span of an arcaded courtyard, a very wide portal or a pair of windows. However, researchers believe that among this group of textiles there were also smaller over­
window tapestries with the width of a single window frame.
Narrow, elongated and rectangular textiles also constituted a window decoration, but they were a bottom adornment, hence their name – under­window tapestries (see: Tapestry with Music­Making Figures). There is evidence to suggest that they could function as a cover for the sides of deep window frames. According to inventories, under­window tapestries were also used to cover benches or chests.
The last group is made up of upholstery tapestries, eleven pieces of which have survived to this day. These tapestries were smallest in size and had a completely practical function, namely they formed coverings of seats or backs of chairs, as well as cushions (see: Chair Upholstery Tapestry with a Bouquet of Flowers).
Currently, only part of the collection of this kind of small tapestry, once numbering seventeen sets of decorations of large windows alone, is in the Wawel collection.
Main narratives of this group of textiles was focused primarily on grotesque (under­window, over­
window and furniture tapestries), on a decorative function, as well as on heraldry (over­window and over­
door tapestries), having representative significance associated with the political agenda of the ruler. With reference to the latter, among furniture tapestries there are also monogram textiles, with the initials of the king – SA (Sigismundus Augustus).
Elaborated by Paulina Kluz (Editorial Team of Małopolska's Virtual Museums), CC­BY 3.0 PL
Bibliography:
Magdalena Piwocka, Arrasy z groteskami (Tapestries with grotesques), [in:] Arrasy wawelskie (The Wawel Tapestries), edited by Jerzy Szablowski, Anna Misiąg­Bocheńska, Maria Hennel­Bernasikowa, Magdalena Piwocka, Warszawa 1994, pp. 271–348;
Magdalena Piwocka, Arrasy Zygmunta Augusta (The Tapestries of Sigismund Augustus), Kraków 2007.
Tags: furniture, Renaissance, manor house, everyday life, Wawel, ornament, authority, King Theatre of Nature
Nature has always been a very important source of inspiration for fine arts. The original interest in it as a model evolved over time into a real cognitive and documentary passion for the surrounding world. Artists interested in the appearance of animals, diverse in terms of forms and colours, and the way they move, as well as the structure and behaviour of plants, studied their nature with analytical inquisitiveness. This kind of scientific and artistic work contributed to the development of the natural sciences.
Realistic tendencies in the field of weaving art appeared in the late Middle Ages. One example of this can be tapestries of the millefleur type, manufactured in France and Flanders from the beginning of the fifteenth century. They depicted figural scenes and heraldic motifs presented against a background of a flat meadow devoid of perspective, filled with the title “a thousand flowers” and figures of animals and insects (e.g. the series The Lady and the Unicorn of the late fifteenth century). Flora and fauna were shown in textiles in a totally naturalistic manner, which allows us today to recognise the majority of their species.
Somewhat later, a complete novelty was an animal and plant landscape, no longer treated as a background or complement to the scene, but as a separate subject matter. This type of textile was called a verdure (French: verdure) from the word verdir, or ”to paint in green”, because of the predominance of this colour. It is sometimes claimed that one of inspirations for this kind of woven depictions was the hunting preferences of clients, as they are often also described as tapestries “to admire hunting” (ad venationem spectantia peristromata) or “fighting animals” (pugnae ferarum). The plant and animal landscape as a separate subject matter initially appeared in tapestries, later in paintings (for example paintings by Roelant Savery, 1576­1639). Verdures created between 1553 and 1560 that are part of the collection of tapestries of Sigismund II Augustus are probably among the first examples of this subject matter in tapestry art.
All sorts of collections of patterns available in the sixteenth century, such as sketchbooks (taccuino di disegni), very popular engravings by Albrecht Dürer, zoological atlases or works of animaliers and naturalists such as Pierre Belon and Conrad Gesner, the author of the famous Historiae animalium, provided a rich source of inspiration for artists of that period. Works of this type were included in the range of creative inspiration of weaving workshops and constituted a source of an extensive and relatively Porcupine, Conrad Gesner, Historiae Animalium, Vol. 1, 1551, source: Wikipedia, public domain (compare with the over­door tapestry with the Arms of Poland on landscape background with animals ­ Beaver and Porcupine)
unchanging repertoire of motifs, as evidenced by a repetitive nature of certain kinds of animals, for example in tapestries of one series. Tapestries also showed exotic animals from Africa and the New World. This resulted from an interest in contemporary geographical discoveries. In the case of less known or fantastic specimens, creators of tapestries tried to depict them by making use of descriptions, as well as various accounts and legends; that is why their images were often created on the basis of projection. Interestingly, at that time many of the views on the origin, nature and symbolism of plants and animals still constituted a lasting legacy of antiquity and the Middle Ages (Physiologus). Artist used available patterns, in which individual specimens were presented as isolated, devoid of any context because animals and plants themselves were their object of interest. Therefore, they did not take into account realities such as the natural environment of existence, and put them together according to their own invention; that is why an exotic animal, such as a camel, could unexpectedly appear with rabbits in the middle of a broadleaved forest (Tapestry A Camel, a Rabbit and a Peacock).
Verdures ilustrated botanical and zoological knowledge at that time in which the real world interspersed with the imaginary one. Therefore, they can be treated as a “theatre of nature”, in which the setting was a mannerist forest and actors were real and fantastic creatures. Separated from the natural environment and arbitrarily compiled, they resulted in the whole composition creating an image slightly diverging from reality, even though its every detail constituted a fully realistic representation of elements of nature.
Elaborated by Paulina Kluz (Editorial Team of Małopolska's Virtual Museums), CC­BY 3.0 PL
Bibliography:
Maria Hennel­Bernasikowa, Arrasy krajobrazowo­zwierzęce (Animal and landscape tapestries), [in:] Arrasy wawelskie (The Wawel Tapestries), edited by Jerzy Szablowski, Anna Misiąg­Bocheńska, Maria Hennel­Bernasikowa, Magdalena Piwocka, Warszawa 1994, pp. 173–268;
Magdalena Piwocka, Arrasy Zygmunta Augusta (The Tapestries of Sigismund Augustus), Kraków 2007;
Magdalena Piwocka, Arrasy króla Zygmunta Augusta: zwierzęta, cz. 1 (The Tapestries of King Sigismund Augustus: Animals, Part 1), Kraków 2009;
Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych (Terminological Dictionary of Fine Arts), Krystyna Kubalska­
Sulkiewicz (ed.), Warszawa 2002.
Tags: fabric, Renaissance, Wawel, plants, animals