In his 1921 discourse, published in 1927, Leonard Lepszy (1856-1937), a Polish mining expert and art historian, focused on Albrecht Dürer's inspiration from the work of another Nuremberg master, Veit Stoss (ca. 1447-1533), who lived and worked in Kraków for nearly twenty years, from 1477 to 1496 (after "Dürer w Polsce", p. 133-147, 160, 162-166). He also presented the idea that, during his wandering years (Wanderjahre), between 1490 and 1494, the artist may have visited Kraków, as well as the particularly interesting aspect of inspirations from the culture of the Muslim communities of Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, largely forgotten like much of the country's pre-Deluge heritage (before 1655).

The exact route of the artist's journey is unknown. He may have first stayed in the Low Countries or on the Middle Rhine before visiting Alsace in 1492. In 1493, he traveled to Strasbourg. At his father's request, Dürer returned home after four years, in 1494, to marry Agnes Frey (1475-1539), following an arrangement made during his absence. No children were born of this marriage, and many scholars have speculated that Albrecht was bisexual or homosexual, due to the recurrence of supposedly homoerotic themes in some of his works (e.g., Men's Bath or Self-Portrait in the Nude), and the nature of his correspondence with close friends. Among the painter's principal heirs after his death were his brothers, including Hans, court painter to the King of Poland.

"We also know that it was only his journey around the world that brought German art a knowledge of Renaissance forms. His journey was indeed a quest for the golden fleece of thought and form, and when it ended, he returned with a priceless treasure to his native Nuremberg. Therefore, if the hypothesis that Dürer spent time in Kraków during his journey, working, and studying in Stoss's studio, is correct, then some trace of this must have remained in his artistic legacy, especially in his drawings and engravings", Lepszy states in his article.

The earliest work that proves this, according to the author, is the mysterious "Sea Monster" (Das Meerwunder). Its title is based on an entry in Dürer's diary of November 24, 1520, where he noted that a "Sea Monster" was sold with an assortment of other pieces in Antwerp for eight florins (Ich hab gelöst aus zwey Adam und Eva, ein Meerwunder, j Hieronymus, j Reuther, j Nemesin, j Eustachium, j ganz Stueck Holzwerk, sieben Stueck des schlechten Holzwerks, 2. Buecher und 10. Klein Holz Passion, alles umb 8 fl.). According to Lepszy, the engraving depicts "The Rape of Amymone", one of the Danaids of Argos, lover of Poseidon. The god of the sea abducted her and, protecting her with a turtle-shell shield, swam in the waters of a river flowing into the sea. The same model is found in another engraving from the same period, "Hercules at the Crossroads". According to modern scholars, the nude woman (Amymone) is wearing the Milanese headdress, although its shape is reminiscent of the Russian kokoshnik, Polish folk costumes (wianek, złotnica, czółko), or the fashion at the court of Queen Constance of Austria in Warsaw in the 1610s and 1620s.

"In this magnificent landscape, I see nothing less than a reminder of the Orava castles, with the Orava River flowing broadly at their feet. Down below, a Polish nobleman with a karabela sabre, high boots, a czamara coat, and a cap similar to an oriental turban, rushes down the river with a hurried step; this is the Polish Danaos, so to speak, and from the river flee the frightened Danaids, the bathing sisters of the kidnapped Amymone, and her mother, who, wringing her hands, threw herself to the ground", continues Leonard Lepszy. The artist was thus inspired by the Orava Castle in Slovakia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Hungary under Vladislaus II Jagiellon (1456-1516), and royal property (located near the border with Poland). From 1484, Emeric Zapolya (d. 1487) resided there as governor of Orva. After his death, John Corvinus (1473-1504), the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, was governor of Orva. However, in 1495, Stephen Zapolya (d. 1499), Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary, seized Orva along with John Corvinus's other estates. Stephen was the father of the future King of Hungary John Zapolya (1487-1540) and Barbara Zapolya (1495-1515), Queen of Poland. In 1499, John Corvinus regained Orava for another five years (after "Oravský hrad" by Peter Huba, p. 16). Regarding the turban worn by the "Polish Danaos", Lepszy discusses the popularity of turban-like headdresses, called zawój, among the men and women of medieval Poland, such as those depicted in Stoss's works during his stay in Kraków, in miniatures from the Behem Codex, adorning the heads of merchants and artisans, as well as in the Liber geneseos of the Szydłowiecki family on the head of a courtier. Mikołaj Rej confirms its popularity among the nobility, and the Armenians, whose community was then significant in Sarmatia, continued to wear the turban for two centuries. "As for Dürer's engravings of figures wearing turbans, the German scholarly community has attributed them to Turkey [...]. This attribution seems dubious to me, and it is worth considering whether the soldier with the sleeves extending outwards, wearing a turban, walking with his wife, is of Turkish, Hungarian, or Polish origin. In any case, it is hard to believe that such a supposedly 'Turkish' family ever walked the streets of Nuremberg", the author concludes. He then lists the names of typical elements of the dress of a Polish nobleman of the time, visible on the effigy of the "Polish Danaos", such as the czekman coat, the baczmagi boots, and the karabela saber, and speculates that the artist father Albrecht Dürer the Elder, originally from Ajtós, near Gyula in Hungary, could have been the one behind his son's journey from Kraków via Orava to Hungary. His Hungarian origins probably also facilitated his contacts with the Thurzo family from Kraków. 

The painted version of the "Rape of Amymone" dating from the beginning of the 16th century, attributed to the school of Dürer, perhaps painted by Hans von Kulmbach, was acquired before 1898 for the collection of Charles I of Romania (1839-1914) at Peleș Castle, near Sinaia (panel, 66 x 106 cm, after "Tableaux anciens de la galerie Charles Ier, roi de Roumanie" by Léopold Bachelin, p. 127-128, item 94). The differences in relation to the engraving (mainly the horizontal rather than vertical arrangement), as well as its mirror image, suggest that it could very likely be a copy of a lost original by Dürer and not a painting based on the engraving. It is worth noting that Dürer's pupil, Georg Pencz, created another version of this scene, known as "The Abduction of Amymone" or "Glaucus abducting Syme", which likewise features a man in a turban and nude nymphs in the background (Oklahoma City Museum of Art, inv. no. 2008.045).

The second work by Dürer mentioned by Lepszy, referring to Islamic clothing in Poland, is The Way to Calvary, created in 1527 at the age of 56 (FACIEBAT ANNO SALVTIS MDXXVII AETATIS VERO SVAE LVI AD). The original composition, not preserved (documented in the Imperial painting collection in Vienna as late as 1748), is known thanks to copies made by the painter's workshop and followers. One, the most beautiful, was in the Cook collection in Richmond (Doughty House, oil on panel, 29 x 45 cm, inv. 48), sold in the 1930s. It was painted in grisaille and belonged to the Imhoff collection. Two copies of lesser quality are in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo (oil on panel, 22.7 x 47.9 cm, inv. 81LC00224) and the Dresden Gallery (oil on panel, 30 x 45.5 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 1872). The preparatory drawing for this composition, dated 1520, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (inv. 1077 E), and another is in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin (inv. KdZ 3868). In the costumes of the riders and the landscape, Lepszy sees the inspiration drawn by Dürer during his presumed stay in Kraków around 1490 or 1491. The entire scene, according to him, is probably inspired by a large medieval mystery, in which the royal court must have actively participated. The artist immortalized the passage of Christ and the Tatar royal guards near the Florian Gate, where the Barbican was later built (between 1498 and 1499). This is justified by the costumes and appearance of the many figures, as well as by the depiction of an eagle on the banner, shield, and attire of one of the soldiers. This dark eagle is identified by Western scholars as the imperial eagle, although such an eagle has two heads, not one. Several elements of this eagle do not correspond to the Polish eagle either, such as the color, the head turned to the right, and the absence of a crown. However, the intention was to represent it in a concealed form, characteristic of the Renaissance. Lepszy also adds that the Tatar at the front of the procession carries a Polish shield on his shoulder, while in 1521, Dürer sold a painted shield: "Andrew from Kraków paid me one Philip florin for a shield and a child's head" (Endres von Cracau hat mir geben für ein Schild und Kindsköpflein ein Philippsgulden), according to the artist's note of June, made in Antwerp.

Tatar settlement in Lithuania, known since the time of Gediminas and Vytautas, included about a hundred villages with mosques under Sigismund III, and larger concentrations in towns occupying separate districts. The Tatars were not enslaved settlers, but were treated as knights by Lithuanian princes, and later by Polish kings, and were also required to perform military service at the king's request, in separate units. Under King Casimir IV Jagiellon, the number of armed Tatars reached several thousand. Until the 15th century, they retained their language, but already under Sigismund I, they used Polish or Ruthenian.

An important fact, overlooked by Lepszy, also supports the interpretation that The Way to Calvary evokes the painter's memories of Kraków, the capital of Poland, at that time. In 1527, Hans, Albrecht's younger brother, arrived in Kraków and, on June 9, entered the service of King Sigismund I's court as the King's official painter (pictor Regie Maiestatis, after "Słownik artystów polskich i obcych w Polsce działających ..." by Jolanta Maurin Białostocka, p. 127), the pinnacle of artistic recognition. Moreover, given the political events of 1520 and 1527, it is also highly likely that these paintings constitute a political allegory. It is known that Dürer supported Martin Luther's religious reforms, while in 1520, the Catholic hierarchy, under the influence of the papal legate Zaccaria Ferreri (d. 1524), forced King Sigismund I to publish the first edict against Lutheranism which was encroaching on Prussia, extended in 1523 to all of Poland. In 1527, the Second Synod of Łęczyca established the Inquisition (after "Mikołaj Rej z Nagłowic" by Bronisław Zawadzki, p. 21). It should be noted that all these actions, in reality, had a very limited impact on the spread of the Reformation in Poland. They nevertheless explain why the Sarmatians lead the Savior to crucifixion.

According to Jan Białostocki (1921-1988), Dürer's engraving "The Betrothal of the Virgin", from the cycle of the Life of the Virgin, created around 1504-1505, inspired the south portal of Tarnów Cathedral (after "The Art of the Renaissance in Eastern Europe ...", p. 12, VIII). Since Dürer's cycle was not published in its entirety until 1511, the portal of Tarnów Cathedral is considered to have been created after this date. However, its Gothic forms are earlier and it is decorated with the coats of arms of Jan Tarnowski (1367-1433) and his wife Elizabeth of Šternberg (Sternberg), supporters of the cathedral (built before 1392). If the portal was created after 1511, it should be adorned with the coat of arms of Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) and his wife Barbara Tęczyńska (ca. 1490-1521). Given Dürer's presence in Kraków at the end of the 15th century, it is quite possible that he visited Tarnów, famous for its contacts with Hungary, where he could see the portal created before 1433, which he reused in his engraving. A similar, albeit more ornate, portal is also found in Dürer's The Circumcision, belonging to the same cycle.

The travel expense account of Nuremberg councillor Hans Harsdörfer from 1504, drawn up after his return from Buda, the capital of Hungary, records the following statement: "I gave the king [Vladislaus II Jagiellon] a magnificent illuminated picture which Albrecht Torer and his servant made for me, and which he accepted with great pleasure; it cost me 45 Rhenish florins". The council reimbursed him for the price of the picture he had given, as notes written by another hand on the back of the sheet suggest (after "Humanismus und Reformation bei den Siebenbürger Sachsen" by Karl Reinerth, p. 75). 

In 1521, during his stay in Antwerp, Dürer painted a portrait of the merchant Bernhart von Resten. As he recorded in his diary after March 16, 1521, he received eight florins, his wife a crown, and his maid Susanne a florin as a tip (Item den Bernhart von Resten hab ich mit Öhlfarben conterfet. Der hat mir dafür geben 8 gulden und mein weib geschenckt eine cronen und der Susanna ein gulden, gilt 24 stüber). The sitter is identified as Bernhard von Reesen (1491-1521), also von Rehsen or von Rhesen, who died shortly after the portrait was completed and who probably also served as the model for the drawing in the British Museum (inv. SL,5218.54). Bernhard was the son of Bernd von Reesen and Brigitte Proite, who married in 1489, and brother of Heinrich von Reesen (1497-1532), who died in Antwerp. The merchant Berendt von Rhesen, probably Bernhard or his father, is credited with donating to St. Mary's Church in Gdańsk an alabaster altar of St. John the Baptist from the first quarter of the 15th century (not preserved in its entirety), brought from England (after "Gdańsk, jego dzieje i kultura", p. 273). Later, in 1636, the French diplomat Charles Ogier recorded in the possession of Johann Ernst Schröer (1581-1639) in Gdańsk, "a famous picture by Albrecht Dürer, which shows a man, surely a scholar, who is holding a sheet of paper in his hand", which strongly recalls the portrait painted by Dürer in Antwerp (after "Albrecht Dürer and Eastern Europe" by Jeffrey Chipps Smith, p. 11, 18). Von Reesen's portrait is now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (oil on panel, 45.5 x 31.5 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 1871, monogram and date top center: 1521). This effigy features broad cheekbones, which are generally considered a Slavic characteristic. A workshop copy, or rather a different version, because the costume is different, of this painting with a green background is in a private collection (oil on panel, 52.1 x 40.1 cm). The commissions from von Reesen and Andrew from Kraków, placed during Dürer's stay in Antwerp, may well be linked, much like the depiction of women from Livonia, also executed in 1521 (Louvre in Paris, inv. 19 DR/ Recto; 20 DR/ Recto; 21 DR/ Recto).

Daniel Burckhardt-Werthemann (1865-1949), in his book on Albrecht Dürer's stay in Basel between 1492 and 1494, published in 1892, also expressed his opinion on the possibility that the artist stayed in the capital of the Kingdom of Poland during his first peregrinations. In addition to Veit Stoss, who must have had one or more Nuremberg painters as associates, he also cites Conrad Celtes (1459-1508), soon to be close to Dürer, who stayed in Kraków from 1488 to 1490, as well as Hans von Kulmbach, who had always been particularly close to the master and settled in Kraków for a few years, and that Hans Dürer, the brother of the artist, soon followed (after "Albrecht Dürer's Aufenthalt in Basel 1492-1494", p. 11-12).

​The Sea Monster with a nobleman wearing a turban by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1498, Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

​Portrait of the Gdańsk merchant Bernhard von Reesen (1491-1521) by Albrecht Dürer, 1521, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

​Portrait of the Gdańsk merchant Bernhard von Reesen (1491-1521) by workshop of Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1521 or after, Private collection.

​Preparatory drawing for the Way of Calvary with Sarmatians by Albrecht Dürer, 1520, Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

​Preparatory drawing for the Way of Calvary with Sarmatians by Albrecht Dürer, before 1527, Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin.

​The Way to Calvary with Sarmatians by Albrecht Dürer or workshop, 1527, Cook collection in Richmond in the 1920s.

​The Way to Calvary with Sarmatians by workshop of Albrecht Dürer, 1527, Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.

​The Way to Calvary with Sarmatians by follower of Albrecht Dürer, perhaps Jörg Breu the Elder, ca. 1527, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

Although little known or ignored by Western scholars, Lepszy's discoveries raise the question of whether we really see "Turks" in other engravings by Dürer. Notably, "Landscape with a cannon", created in 1518 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 19.73.111), which most scholars place in the context of Emperor Maximilian's call to crusade at the Diet of Augsburg in 1518. Although there is some debate as to whether the figures on the right are Turkish, Hungarian, or Eastern European (British Museum, inv. 1910,0212.308), the landscape in the background is considered to represent the environs of the imperial city of Nuremberg. Previously, the landscape was thought to be that of Kirchehrenbach, near Forchheim, and today that of Eschenau, located about twenty kilometers to the south, where Dürer's patron, the Nuremberg patrician Jakob Muffel (1471-1526), ​​had a residence (called Muffelschloss). Other figures, including a mercenary and guards carrying the cannon, are dressed in Western fashion, more typical of Nuremberg. Scholars also agree that the cannon was part of the imperial city's arsenal, although it had fallen out of fashion and was removed by the city of Nuremberg in 1512. Such a weapon, bearing the city's coat of arms, was developed around 1480, and at the time the engraving was made, a few examples had been deposited in the municipal armory as monuments to the art of warfare of the past (after "The Renaissance of Etching", Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 54). What is striking is that a very similar cannon appears in a painting in the National Museum in Warsaw (inv. MP 2475), created around 1525-1530 by Lucas Cranach the Elder's entourage and depicting the Battle of Orsha in September 1514, where the Polish-Lithuanian army faced that of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The commanders of the royal artillery, Hans Wejs (Weiss) and probably Hans Behem (d. 1533), both from Nuremberg, were likely depicted in this painting. In 1514, Muffel became mayor of Nuremberg (he had been a city councilor since 1502). So did he sell old cannons to Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia for the war against Moscow? This is highly probable in this context, and consequently, the oriental types depicted in Dürer's engraving should be identified as Sarmatians.

Dürer's "Turkish Family", made around 1495/1496, is another engraving that is considered to reflect the Renaissance fascination with the Ottoman Empire (National Gallery of Art, Washington, inv. 1953.6.63). It depicts an archer in oriental costume, wearing a conical hat and a turban. He holds a bow and two arrows. Tatars serving in the Polish-Lithuanian army in the 15th and early 16th centuries were considered excellent archers. Even today in Poland, "a very common element of meetings devoted to Tatar culture and traditions are archery shows with the use of traditional Tatar bows" (after "Muslim Tatar Minorities in the Baltic Sea Region", ed. Ingvar Svanberg, David Westerlund, p. 61). He is accompanied by a female partner who looks at him. She is half-naked, barefoot, and holding a small child in her arms. She is also wearing a tuban. Although Central and Eastern Europe is mistakenly perceived by some Westerners as a land of eternal winter, some regions can be very hot in summer, such as southern Poland. So did the artist see this couple near Kraków or Tarnów in the early 1490s? 

Marian Gorzkowski (1830-1911), in his novel "The Priest's Daughter. A Galician Novel", inspired by 19th-century Galicia and published in 1877, describes village life in the Przemyśl region. This region, now part of the Polish Subcarpathians, was ethnographically and religiously diverse. The villagers preserved many traditions from earlier times, and Gorzkowski describes an event in the fictional village of Złotówka, no doubt inspired by real life: "The old man had not even finished his story when more and more figures wearing turbans, some with zawoje on their heads, others half-naked, barefoot, with wounded legs, approached the priest" (Księdzówna. Powieść galicyjska, p. 84). 

Consequently, the "Turk" in Dürer's engraving "Five soldiers and a Turk on horseback" from around the same time (National Gallery of Art, Washington, inv. 1944.5.5) was probably not a "Turk" at all, but, along with other soldiers, a member of the royal guard whom the painter most likely saw in Kraków.

According to what is known about the painter, he never visited an Islamic country. Many scholars will certainly claim that he could have seen many of his Oriental models in Venice, either during his first visit between 1494 and 1495, or during his second visit between 1506 and 1507. He certainly copied works of art depicting figures in Ottoman costumes, such as the three figures in the background of Gentile Bellini's painting, "Corpus Christi Procession in St. Mark's Square", signed and dated 1496 (drawing in the British Museum, inv. 1895,0915.974), but were all these works inspired by his stay in the Republic of Venice, where, despite its trade with Oriental countries, Muslim visitors were generally viewed with suspicion and considered dangerous infidels, like the Jewish minority? Before the creation of a temporary funduq for Muslims in the late 16th century, merchants passing through Venice and a handful of artisans stayed at inns near the Rialto. But even when the Fondaco dei Turchi opened in 1621 in the Santa Croce district, across the Grand Canal from the Jewish ghetto, it housed fewer than 100 merchants, including Turks, Bosnians, Albanians, and Persians (after "East Meets West in Venice" by Richard Covington, p. 9). 

Most likely, shortly after returning from his journey, Dürer dressed the biblical Lot, depicted fleeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with his daughters, in a fur-lined robe and turban. This scene was created around 1496/1499 on the reverse of a painting of the Madonna and Child, inspired by Giovanni Bellini's Venetian Madonnas. This combination of biblical scenes is highly unusual, and the exact relationship between the two images remains unclear. The painting is believed to have been painted for Wolf Haller and his wife Ursula Koberger, hence its known as the Haller Madonna (National Gallery of Art, Washington, oil on panel, 52.4 x 42.2 cm, inv. 1952.2.16.a and 1952.2.16.b). The coats of arms of both spouses are visible in the lower part of the Madonna image. Wolf, as the son-in-law of the Nuremberg publisher Anton Koberger, provided him with services in Poland and Hungary (after "Zur Rechtsgeschichte des deutschen Sortimentsbuchhandels" by Heinrich Buhl, p. 6). 

A man from the entourage of Erazm Ciołek (1474-1522), Bishop of Płock, in the scene of visitation of the church construction from the Kraków Pontifical, created around 1506-1518, is wearing a typical "Ottoman" turban (Czartoryski Library, 1212 V Rkps). In addition, one of the legendary Twelve Voivodes (Duodecim Palatini) in Maciej Miechowita's "Polish Chronicle" (Chronica Polonorv[m]), published in Kraków in 1521, also wears a turban, while the others are dressed in armor and costumes typical of the Sarmatian nobility of the early 16th century (National Library of Poland, SD XVI.F.18 adl.). In 1517, when envoys from Kraków arrived in Naples to ask for the hand of Princess Bona Sforza on behalf of King Sigismund I, Ricardo Bartholino (1470-1529) remarked that they were "dressed in the Hungarian style in a very strange manner" (vestiti allo modo ungaresco di molto strana maniera). Sarmatian fashion, like Hungarian fashion of the time, drew inspiration from common models, particularly Turkish and their various forms. Bartholino also observed that some of them wore white caps tapering towards the top, others feathered caps, jewels that Bartholino calls Tatar, pins, belts, gold and silver buckles, ornamentally decorated gold chains, not to mention garments made of cloth of gold (after "Orient w polskiej kulturze artystycznej" by Tadeusz Mańkowski, p. 195).

Although the court painter active in Kraków, Michael Lancz von Kitzingen, drew inspiration from a late 15th-century Dürer engraving for his composition depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Catherine, taken from the Dormition of the Virgin Mary altarpiece, he dressed all the figures in typical Sarmatian costumes. The same is true of the panel depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Barbara, which itself may have been based on a lost composition by Cranach, as it resembles the paintings of a follower of the painter, active in Bohemia, known as Master IW (for example, the altarpiece from the Cistercian Monastery in Osek, now in the National Gallery in Prague). The paintings were made in 1521 for the chapel of Bishop Jan Konarski (1447-1525) in Wawel Cathedral. Several figures in these compositions wear turbans (National Museum Krakow, inv. MNK I-851/3 and MNK I-851/2), similar to that in the engraving depicting the Twelve Voivodes.

The 1616 inventory of the Ostrogski princes' lists numerous Arab, Turkish, and Persian garments, including 36 white Tatar turbans (36 kołpaczków tatarskich białych) and 18 scarlet Turkish and Tatar conical hats (18 kiwiorów szkarłatnych), called kiwior (kivior) or kiwier (kivier), equivalents of the Ottoman külah, the earliest recorded mention of which in Poland dates back to 1419. Their popularity was so great among the nobility that the poet Stanisław Orzechowski (1513-1566) lamented in his book published in Kraków in 1564: "We will soon all be Turks and walk together with you, Polish and Lithuanian lords, wearing Turkish turbans and Tatar kiwiers" (Sturczyć sye nam leda kiedy / o Panowie Polscy y Litewscy / y w Zawoioch Tureckich / y w Kiwierzech Tatarskich rychlo nam z wami chodzić pospołu, in Qvincvnx, tho iest wzor Korony Polskiey ...). A Lithuanian noblewoman (Lituana di conditione / Mulier nobilis Lituanica), from Cesare Vecellio's Habiti Antichi Et Moderni di tutto il Mondo ..., published in Venice in 1598 (Czartoryski Library, 2434 I Cim), wears a kiwior and a turban very similar to those seen on the head of the "Polish Danaos" in Dürer's "The Sea Monster". The text in Italian and Latin confirms that this is not a mistake: "Lithuania is a very large region; therefore its clothing is varied. [...] In addition to the hat, several veils are wrapped around her head" (p. 352). According to the historian Franciszek Siarczyński (1758-1829), there was in Kraków a portrait of Zebrzydowski, most likely Mikołaj Zebrzydowski (1553-1620), voivode of Kraków, dressed as a sultan (Widziałem obrazy w Krakowie, w których Zebrzydowski podobny był do Sułtana, after "Obraz wieku panowania Zygmunta III ...", p. 73). In the large painting The Feast of the Cross, painted by Tomasz Muszyński between 1654 and 1658 for the Dominican church in Lublin, the Sarmatian magnate, looking at the viewer, wears a gold żupan ​​and a turban.

The Kraków tax on goods from 1633 explains the route by which they reached Poland and states that they were transported "through Silesia, from Hungary to Kraków, and then throughout the Crown [of Poland]". A fine turban (zawój) with a silk border and buckles (ferety) cost 10 thalers, while one with a gold border cost 6 thalers. It is also possible that turbans or zawoje are present in inventories under another name. The Lviv merchant Stanisław Wilczek, who died in 1659, left in his shop "Portuguese turbans" (zawoje portugalskie), that is, headscarves, or rather shawls, that townswomen wore on their heads; they were also called "cotton headscarves" (bawełnice). Later, the shop also offered turbans (zawoje) called haimhams, jampurs, Circassian headscarves, and Mesopotamian cotton headscarves (haimhamy, jampury, czerkiezy, bawełnice mezopotamskie), each for 12 złotys. Wilczek's note adds that a noblewoman pawned a ring adorned with five diamonds and bought a thin turban for 16 złotys (after "Patrycyat i mieszczaństwo lwowskie w XVI i XVII wieku" by Władysław Łoziński p. 151-152).

Interestingly, camels, associated with Arab countries, also appear quite frequently in old sources concerning Sarmatia. In 1519, Queen Bona sent two camels to her relative, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este (1479-1520). These animals aroused great curiosity in Italy, and Ippolito promised to send pictures of them to his brother Alfonso (after "Królowa Bona ..." by Władysław Pociecha, p. 291). In February 1574, Constantine Vasily (1526-1608), Prince of Ostroh, presented the new King Henry of Valois with five camels born in Poland (after "Dzieje osadnictwa tatarskiego na wołoskiem pograniczu" by Antoni Józef Rolle, p. 258). Sources also confirm that, probably at the end of the 16th century, Zofia Koniceposka née Osmólska, wife of Stanisław Przedbór Koniecpolski, lost her life when the horses of her carriage were frightened by camels near Zamość (after "Pomniki dziejów Polski wieku siedmnastego", ed. August Podgórski, Volume 2, p. 288). The retinue of ambassador Jerzy Ossoliński in Rome in 1633 included 10 camels, also visible in engravings commemorating his entry into the Eternal City.

​An archer in a turban and his partner by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1495-1496, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

​Five soldiers and a horseman in a turban by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1495-1496, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

​Lot and his daughters, reverse of the Haller Madonna, by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1496-1499, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Landscape with Sarmatians and a cannon by Albrecht Dürer, 1518, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

​Twelve Voivodes from Maciej Miechowita's "Polish Chronicle", published in Kraków in 1521, National Library of Poland.

According to Lepszy, two works preserved in Kraków (in the 1920s), both at the Dominican monastery, could be associated with his stay there: a small study of a woman's head for the effigy of the Madonna and a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary. The first painting, probably lost during the Second World War, reveals, according to the author, strong influences of Early Netherlandish painting and should be dated to the end of the 15th century (oil on panel, 26.5 x 21.5 cm). It came to the Kraków monastery from the Tarnobrzeg monastery in 1912, and Lepszy speculated that it was left by a painter who had once stayed with the Dominicans. Analyzing the technique, style, artistic and commercial connections of Nuremberg and Kraków, as well as similar works, he concluded that the artist could be the young Dürer and the model could be the daughter of Veit Stoss, Catherine. The second painting, The Coronation of the Virgin Mary, is the upper part of a larger composition, which was destroyed, probably during the Deluge or a fire, and is now attributed to Dürer's pupil, Georg Pencz.

Sebastian Fabian Klonowic's poem on the death of Jan Kochanowski, published in Kraków in 1585, confirms that Dürer's paintings (and not just his engravings) were well known and appreciated in Poland: "I see you're no Durerus, painter, though from German land, Yet with us still the foreigner must ever hold first stand. [...] To paint Jan, one needs Apelles' talent" (Zale nagrobne ná śláchetnie urodzonego y znácznie uczonego mężá, nieboszczyká pana Jana Kochanowskiego ..., Zal XII). Some surviving inventories confirm that Dürer's paintings were part of important collections in Sarmatia. The register of paintings in the Lubomirski collection that survived looting by the Swedish army during the Deluge, drawn up in 1661 (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, 1/357/0/1/7/12), mentions Dürer's Madonna and Child, painted on wood. The Lubomirski family also came into possession of a significant collection of the painter's drawings. In 1823, Prince Henryk Lubomirski (1777-1850) presented 27 drawings on 24 sheets by the Nuremberg master to the Ossoliński National Institute in Lviv. It is interesting to note that these drawings (some of which are also attributed to the painter's pupils, such as Hans Baldung), may have arrived in Poland as early as the 16th century. Endres (also Andreas, 1484-1555), Dürer's brother, received them after Albrecht's death (1528). He was also the heir of Hans Dürer, court painter to King Sigismund I from 1527, who died in Kraków around 1534. In 1538, Endres arrived in Kraków to inherit the deceased's estate, being his only close relative (after "Utracone „Dürery” z kolekcji Muzeum Lubomirskich" by Emilia Kłoda, p. 3-4). This same Endres, who was a goldsmith, is considered the author of a silver setting of an aurochs horn, made in 1534 in Kraków (Wieliczka Saltworks Museum). It was commissioned by Seweryn Boner, then administrator of the Wieliczka Saltworks and governor of Kraków Castle, and adorned with the coats of arms of King Sigismund the Old (a Polish eagle with the letter "S"), his wife Queen Bona (the Sforza serpent), Seweryn Boner (Bonarowa) and his wife Jadwiga née Kościelecka (Ogończyk).

The Missal of Bishop Erazm Ciołek (1474-1522), created in Kraków around 1515, probably by Stanisław Samostrzelnik, includes several miniatures inspired by engravings by Dürer, published a few years earlier (National Library of Poland, Rps 3306 III). Notably, several of these are based on the Small Passion, published in Nuremberg in 1511.

Madonna and Child on a Crescent with King Sigismund, a book illumination from the Prayer Book of Sigismund I the Old (British Library), created by Samostrzelnik in 1524 was inspired by Dürer's print from 1508 (National Gallery of Art, inv. 1943.3.3497), which confirms the popularity of the artist's works at the royal court of Sarmatia. Several other illuminations in this prayer book, as well as that of King's wife Bona made between 1527-1528 (Bodleian Library) were also inspired by Dürer's works. Communion of Sigismund I from his Prayer Book depict a beautiful landscape in the background (with probaly Trakai Castle), most likely also inpired by the works of Nuremberg master. The engraving by Sebald Beham, elder brother of Barthel Beham, dating from 1520, served as the model for the Man of Sorrows in this miniature (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. Gr.Ob.N.72 MNW).

The king commissioned numerous works from Nuremberg, such as altarpieces and silver candlesticks. Silver crucifix with a relic of the Holy Cross from 1510, probably commissioned by Sigismund I in Nuremberg, was offerd by him to the Jasna Góra Monastery. To commemorate the birth of his son, the king commissioned a silver statue of saint Nicolaus which was completed with royal coat of arms made in Nuremberg and brought as a gift to Saint Nicolaus' Church in Bari in 1523 (pro insigniis maiestatis regiae, Nurembergae factis et tandem Barum missis ad argenteam imaginem divi Nicolai, expositi sunt, after "Mecenat Zygmunta Starego w zakresie rzemiosła artystycznego" by Adam Bochnak, p. 154, 249). Dürer included portraits of Sigismund I and his brother Vladislaus II, King of Hungary and Bohemia, as well as the latter's son Louis and daughter Anna, in a 1515 woodcut, The Congress of Princes at Vienna, from the triumphal arch of Emperor Maximilian I. As with the effigies of the emperor, the images of the Jagiellons were probably inspired by other images, likely created by Dürer himself. Similar effigies of the three Jagiellonian monarchs - Vladislaus II, Louis II, and Sigismund I - appeared in the series "The White King" (Der Weißkunig), produced in Augsburg between 1514 and 1516 (believed to depict the meeting of the Jagiellonian monarchs with Emperor Maximilian I between Bratislava and Hainburg an der Donau on July 15, 1515 and considered the work of Leonhard Beck).

The well-documented connections of Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), son of Sophia Jagiellon (1464-1512), are of crucial importance for understanding the presumed links between the royal court of Sarmatia and Dürer. This nephew of King Sigismund I ruled the Duchy of Prussia, then a Polish fief, and his patronage, like that of his Sarmatian relatives, possessed a truly international dimension. Merchants from Florence and Nuremberg supplied luxury goods to Albert's court in Królewiec (after "Sztuka Albrechta Dürera i Cranachów na artystycznym dworze Albrechta Hohenzollerna w stołecznym Królewcu" by Piotr Birecki, p. 58, 60). The Duke commissioned and purchased paintings from Lucas Cranach the Elder and before August 1525, he acquired five portrait panels from Dürer through the intermediary of the Nuremberg citizen Bastian Startz. On August 8, 1525, Startz reminded the duke that payment was due; the outstanding balance amounted to 100 florins (Albrecht Durrer auß Befelch m. g. Herrn für 5 conterfein Tafeln 100 fl., after "Die Kunst am Hofe der Herzöge von Preußen" by Hermann Ehrenberg, p. 18, 145). The identities of the sitters remain unknown; however, given that these works were created around the time of the Prussian Homage (April 10, 1525), it is highly probable that one of them depicted the King of Poland, Albert's uncle. In 1529, Albert brought a pupil of Dürer to Prussia to carry out painting work. This was Crispin Herrant (or Herranth) and to secure his services, the Duke wrote a letter to Sebald von der Thyle in late February 1529, describing Herrant as a "journeyman [or companion] of the late master Albrecht Dürer" (Meister Albrecht Dürer's in got verstorben gesell, after "Lucas Cranach des Aeltern Leben und Werke" by Christian Schuchardt, p. 122-123).

It is also worth mentioning the important collection of Dürer's engravings, known as the "Trilogy of Piotr Wedelicki", which comprises woodcuts from the series The Apocalypse, The Large Passion, and The Life of the Virgin, created between 1498 and 1511 (46 engravings in total). This work is now housed in the Museum of the Archdiocese of Warsaw (inv. 4276). Wedelicki (also Wedeliciusz or Vedelicius, ca. 1483-1543), originally from Oborniki near Poznań, was a physician at the court of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza, as well as rector of the Academy of Kraków. He studied philosophy in Kraków and medicine in Bologna (1516). A passionate bibliophile, he had assembled a rich collection of books, some of which have been preserved to this day in the Jagiellonian Library and the Uppsala University Library (looted during the Deluge). The woodcuts were published in 1511 and bound in one volume in a leather binding, with Wedelicki's bookplate. Before 1864, this book belonged to the library of the missionary priests of the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw (after "15th century Italian print ..." by Helena Domaszewska, p. 48). 

No original paintings or drawings by Dürer have survived in the former territories of Sarmatia. Before the Second World War, the most important collection was the aforementioned one of Dürer drawings from the Lubomirski collection, which had been deposited after 1868 at the Lubomirski Museum in Lviv. They were confiscated by the German occupation forces on July 2, 1941, and transferred to Germany. Returned to a member of the Lubomirski family by the American army after the war, they were sold at private auctions. Notable works from this collection include Self-portrait, study of a hand and a pillow (recto), executed in 1493, and Fortuna in a niche, a study of a nude female executed in 1498, probably representing the artist's wife, Agnes (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 1975.1.862 and 1975.1.861). The collection included two other studies of nude female figures: Nude woman with a staff from about 1500 (National Gallery of Canada, inv. 6652) and Nude woman with a mirror, probably in a private collection (paper, 25 x 19.5 cm), as well as A nude man reclining, holding a club from about 1526 (Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, inv. 59.532), Male nude holding a mirror (recto) and Male nude with a lion (verso) from about 1500 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, inv. 1991.182.11.a and 1991.182.11.b), the Rape of Europa, a design for a glass painting, now attributed to Hans Baldung (British Museum, inv. 1997,0712.15), and two studies of the naked Christ: the Entombment (private collection) and the Dead Christ from 1505 (Cleveland Museum of Art, inv. 1952.531). The most exquisite drawings from this collection are therefore nudes. Particularly beautiful is also the drawing of a young bull dating from around 1496 (erroneously inscribed in another hand in 1508), known as such because of the protruding part of the genitals (Art Institute of Chicago, inv. 1965.408). The only drawing by Dürer from the Lubomirski collection to survive in Poland is Head of a bearded man, now housed in the Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław (inv. 8318).

Four drawings by Dürer and his circle from the collection of the University of Warsaw Library: Willibald Pirckheimer's Bookplate from 1503 and Madonna and Child with Angels (from the collection of Stanisław Kostka Potocki), Madonna and Child with a Crescent Moon (paper, 21.2 x 16 cm), and Reclining Lioness (from the collection of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski) were most likely looted or burned along with over 60,000 prints and drawings by the German Nazi invaders between 1939 and 1945 (compare "The Fate of the Lubomirski Dürers" by Adolf Juzwenko, Thaddeus Mirecki, p. 169). 

A beautiful goblet with a lid, the so-called Dürer type, made of gilded silver and presented by King Ladislaus IV Vasa to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1647 (Moscow Kremlin Museums, inv. МЗ-159), is believed to have been made in Poland and testifies to a strong inspiration from the work of Dürer and his circle in Poland. Among the painted works, one can cite the Fall under the Cross, central panel of the triptych formerly kept in Wrocław Cathedral (Silesia), considered to be a work by Hans Dürer made around 1522 and inspired by Albrecht's woodcut of 1511 (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. Śr.317/1 MNW). The Bishop of Wrocław at that time was John V Turzo (1464/1466-1520), born in Kraków as the son of a local patrician, who in 1508 bought Dürer's Madonna directly from the painter.

In the context presented, it is highly probable that Dürer designed the bronze epitaph for Andrzej Szamotulski (d. 1511), Voivode of Poznań, as suggested by the literature. This splendid epitaph, whose depiction of the deceased recalls Dürer's representations of saints, was created for the Szamotuły Collegiate Church in Nuremberg by the Vischer workshop. The epitaph of Piotr Kmita (1442-1505) in Wawel Cathedral, also produced by the Vischer workshop in Nuremberg, is considered to have been inspired by the figure of Saint Eustace (portrait of Lukas Paumgartner) in Dürer's Paumgartner Altarpiece (after "Kraków, jego dzieje i sztuka" by Helena Blumówna, p. 280).

Last but not least, mention should be made of a drawing from the Lubomirski collection, now held at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York (pen, brown ink, and wash on paper, 9.4 x 9.3 cm; inv. 1977.40). It is considered to depict a pelican in her piety, a symbol of self-sacrifice. However, in Polish sources, this image has been interpreted as a heraldic symbol and compared to the one appearing on the coat of arms of Michael Behaim, created by Dürer around 1520; the drawing has thus been described as representing a heraldic eagle (after "Albrecht Dürer: czterechsetna rocznica śmierci mistrza (1528-1928) i jego rysunki w Polsce" by Władysław Kozicki, p. 391, 394, 396, 398). The bird in the drawing does indeed resemble an eagle more than a pelican; moreover, it has built its nest upon a ball, or rather, a globe, which could indicate that it is a royal symbol. This line of reasoning calls to mind the famous legend regarding the origins of the Polish state: Lech, the mythical ancestor of the Polish people, "founded the city of Gniezno at the spot where, during his wanderings, he discovered a white eagle's nest containing chicks atop an oak tree. Captivated by the site, he decided to establish his fortified capital there, adopting the white eagle as the national emblem and adorning his warriors' banners with it" (after "Stanisław Żółkiewski, obraz historyczny z czasów Stefana i Zygmunta III, królów" By Józef Aleksander Starża [Miniszewski], Volume 1, p. X). The scene of Lech discovering the nest was illustrated by Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski in 1893.

​Young bull from the Lubomirski collection by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1496, Art Institute of Chicago.

​Male nude holding a mirror (recto) from the Lubomirski collection by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1500, National Gallery of Art, Washington. 

​Male nude with a lion (verso) from the Lubomirski collection by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1500, National Gallery of Art, Washington. 

​Nude woman with a mirror from the Lubomirski collection by Albrecht Dürer, 1500s, Private collection. 

The Rape of Europa from the Lubomirski collection by Hans Baldung, ca. 1503-1505, British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

​Reclining nude man from the Lubomirski collection by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1526, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

​White Eagle of Poland (?) from the Lubomirski collection by Albrecht Dürer, first quarter of the 16th century, Morgan Library & Museum in New York. 

​The trilogy by Piotr Wedelicki (ca. 1483-1543) featuring woodcuts from Albrecht Dürer's series The Apocalypse, The Large Passion, and The Life of the Virgin, 1511, Museum of the Archdiocese of Warsaw.  

​The Congress of Princes at Vienna from the Triumphal Arch of Emperor Maximilian I by Albrecht Dürer, 1515, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1515, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Barbara Zapolya (1495-1515) by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1515, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Princess Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547) by Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1515, lost. © Marcin Latka

​The Fall under the Cross, central panel of the triptych from Wrocław Cathedral, by Hans Dürer, ca. 1522, National Museum in Warsaw.

At the end of the 15th century, Bavaria and Sarmatia (generally speaking), were linked by close economic and artistic ties. The most important evidence of these links in Dürer's oeuvre is the drawing in the British Museum, dated 1509 (ink on paper, 26 x 42.2 cm, inv. SL,5218.190). It depicts the Fall of the Rebel Angels, with the kneeling figure of the donor Jost Schilling and his coat of arms. It is a preparatory study for a painting commissioned by Schilling for his chapel in Wissembourg.

Friedrich Schilling, a lay judge in Wissembourg around 1450, is the ancestor of the Schilling family who immigrated to Poland. Four, or perhaps five, of his sons settled in Kraków, including Friedrich (d. 1508) and the youngest, Jost (Just, Jodok, Jodocus) Schilling (after "Geschichte der Deutschen in den Karpathenländern" by Raimund Friedrich Kaind, Part 1, p. 105). Jost received the city rights of Kraków only in 1513, being already of advanced age (homo iam grandevus) and died in the same year. Friedrich, through his connections with relatives and other merchants in the Holy Roman Empire, as well as his marriage to Agnes, daughter of the Kraków merchant and banker Paul Behr, amassed a fortune and acquired a high position among Kraków's burghers. He conducted most of his business in partnership with his brothers: Nicolaus (in 1498, 1502, and 1505) and Jost (in 1505). They invested in lead mining and engaged in a significant trade in this metal, papermaking, and the trade of oxhides, Polish cochineal, and textiles, primarily with the German states. In 1499, Schillings supplied substantial quantities of lead to the royal court. They maintained particularly active trade relations with Nuremberg (in 1491, the Nuremberg merchant Sixtus Wagner owed Friedrich 300 Hungarian guilders) and with the cities of Silesia. 

In 1507, the brothers were ennobled by Emperor Maximilian I (after "Polski słownik biograficzny" Volume 35, p.  477), patron of Albrecht Dürer. In the same year, Jost had an altar erected in the Church of Saint John in Wissembourg, dedicated to Saint Stanislaus, a highly venerated patron saint of Poland. This altar has since disappeared, as the church became Protestant over time. Consequently, an effigy of Jost very similar to the one in the drawing, bearing his coat of arms, the inscription IOST SCHILLING and the date A° 1507, can be attributed to the circle of Dürer (oil on panel, 41.5 x 28.6 cm, Lempertz in Cologne, November 17, 2007, Auction 909, lot 1143 and Lost Art-ID573856). However, the depiction of the hands suggests more the circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder, as in the case of the portrait of the wife of Erazm Schilling (d. 1561), copied by Franz Wolfgang Rohrich (Galeria Staszica in Poznań, December 15, 2022, lot 3).

In 1536, a painter from Bavaria, Andreas Jungholz, accepted the Kraków municipal law (Andris Jungholcz ex Bauaria de Monte-sancto [Heiligenberg bei Schönau?], pictor, after "Skarbniczka naszej archeologji ..." by Ambroży Grabowski, p. 42). He worked on the decoration of Wawel Castle and is considered to be perhaps the same painter as Andreas, who received 30 florins on December 3, 1546, for a portrait of King Sigismund I.

In addition to economic and artistic connections, political connections also became important during Dürer's youth in Nuremberg. On November 14, 1475, Hedwig Jagiellon (1457-1502), the eldest daughter of King Casimir IV Jagiellon and Elizabeth of Austria, married Duke George the Rich in Landshut (near the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg). Several works of art commemorate the Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut. Among the most important is the large tapestry housed in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich (wool and silk, 442 x 588 cm, inv. T 3861). Made in 1540, as evidenced by the date inscribed at the bottom, this tapestry depicts Sophia's family tree. It comes from Neuburg Castle and belongs to a series of tapestries commissioned by Otto Henry (1502-1559), Count Palatine of Neuburg, Hedwig's grandson. The design is attributed to the Neuburg court painter, Peter Gertner, and the tapestry was woven in Otto Henry's workshop in Neuburg under the direction of the Flemish weaver Christian de Roy. The lower part of the tapestry depicts Sophia with her coat of arms (the White Eagle), an image likely based on pictures made during her lifetime, more than fifty years earlier. In 1536, Otto Henry traveled to Kraków to claim his grandmother's dowry, and the view of the Polish capital painted after this visit is attributed to his other court painter, Matthias Gerung.

Around 1535, shortly before Otto Henry's visit to Kraków, Barthel Beham (1502-1540), a Nuremberg painter whose work shows strong influences from Dürer, created the "small Wittelsbach series", which included, in addition to members of the family, several portraits of contemporary monarchs. This series is considered a gift from Duke William IV of Bavaria (1493-1550), for whom Beham had worked as court painter since 1527, to his cousin Otto Henry, and was later kept at Neuburg Castle, the latter's residence. The series includes two portraits of Emperor Charles V (Bavarian State Painting Collections, inv. 2611 and inv. 2558), a portrait of his brother Ferdinand I (Bavarian National Museum, inv. R44), a portrait of William IV (Berchtesgaden Castle, inv. BI a52), Otto Henry, dated top right: 1535 (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 5316), as well as William IV's brother - Louis X of Bavaria (1495-1545), dated top left: 1535 (Sotheby's London, July 6, 2016, lot 27), for whom another series was probably made. Also part of the "small Wittelsbach series" is a portrait of the young Louis II Jagiellon (1506-1526), ​​King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia from 1516, nephew of Sigismund I (oil on panel, 42.5 x 33.5 cm, Lempertz in Cologne, sale 1266, May 17, 2025, lot 1004). Like the portraits of Charles V and Ferdinand I, it was probably modeled on other images of the monarch. The portrait comes from the collection of the Royal Bavarian Order of Knights of the House of Saint George, and the barely visible inscription at the top confirms the identity of the portrayed ([...] ANNONIAE LVDVIGVS / REXQVE PATER:QVI / PRO PATRIA PVGNANS / FORTITER OPPERVIT / LVDW / IG).

After the death of Louis II, Duke Louis X of Bavaria, who reigned in Landshut, claimed the Bohemian crown and opposed the Habsburgs until 1534, when the two dukes of Bavaria concluded an agreement with Ferdinand I in Linz. Since the portrait of the Jagiellonian monarch was painted after this agreement, it should not be linked to these claims, but rather to the family ties of Otto Henry (and his cousin, the ruler of Landshut).

This suggests that portraits of other members of the Jagiellonian family, including that of Otto Hery's grandmother's brother, Sigismund I, whom he visited shortly after the completion of the "small Wittelsbach series", were also executed. In this context, the series of portraits painted in the 1660s by the Swedish painter David Frumerie (1641-1677) is particularly interesting. He copied the paintings from a Swedish royal collection, likely looted by Swedish troops in the 17th century, or painted by Jakob Binck (d. 1569) and subsequently lost. Binck is considered a pupil of Dürer and frequently copied the works of Barthel Beham and his brother Hans Sebald Beham. Furthermore, he worked for Duke Albert of Prussia (1490-1568), son of Sophia Jagiellon (1464-1512), and his Sarmatian relatives.

The series by Frumerie includes portraits of male rulers from various European countries around 1540 and earlier. While the portraits of the Dukes of Saxony were originally inspired by the works of Cranach the Elder, those of Emperors Charles V and Ferdinand I resemble Beham's works from the Wittelsbach series (Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, inv. NMGrh 599, NMGrh 598). The portrait of William IV of Bavaria (inv. NMGrh 585) is also based on corresponding works by Beham (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 2456). The series also includes the portrait of Louis II Jagiellon (oil on canvas, 197 x 119 cm, inv. NMGrh 596, inscription: LVDOVICVS REX HVNGARIÆ / ET BOHEMIÆ. ÆTATIS.20. / ANNO.1525.), similar to that from the "small Wittelsbach series" and to the full-length portrait from Neuburg Castle (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 6946).

Among the paintings copied by Frumerie is also the portrait of Louis's uncle, Sigismund I (oil on canvas, 194 x 98 cm, inv. NMGrh 570, inscription: SİGİSMVND, D. G. REX / POLONİÆ MAGN, DVX / LITVAVIA.RUSSIÆ PRVS/SIÆ DOMIN, ...). The colors and style of this work are reminiscent of the paintings of Beham, whose workshop also produced full-length portraits, such as those of Otto Henry and his wife Susanna, both from Neuburg Castle (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 4229 and inv. 6724). The King of Poland holds an apple, a symbol of original sin, as does Cunigunde of Austria (1465-1520) in her posthumous portrait painted by Beham in 1531 (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 2445, signed and dated upper left: 1531. / .BB). 

Like the portrait of Cunigunde, which has a counterpart in that of her husband Albert IV of Bavaria-Munich (1447-1508), painted in 1535, many years after the duke's death (Neuburg State Gallery, inv. 2444, signed and dated upper left: .1535. / .BB), the portrait of Sigismund I, created by Beham, was undoubtedly created together with the portrait of his wife, Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona. No such portrait of the latter is known, however, the image of a lady in Italian costume from Beham's painting is interesting in this respect. This horizontal composition was painted in 1530, as evidenced by the inscription in the lower left part of the painting: 1530 / BARTHOLOME BEHEM and depicts the religious scene of the Finding of the Cross by Saint Helena (Alte Pinakothek, oil on panel, 101.1 x 149.8 cm, inv. 684). The painting comes from the Ducal Art Chamber in Munich and is part of the Historical Cycle (Historienzyklus), a series of paintings commissioned by William IV of Bavaria and his wife, Maria Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim (1507-1580), depicting famous ancient battles and the virtuous deeds of legendary women. The compositions in the cycle feature the coats of arms of the Duke and Duchess, including the scene of the Finding of the Cross - inscription next to the Baden coat of arms: CRVX CHRISTI AB HELENA REPERITVR / A MACARIO MORTVA SVSCITATA ADPROBATVR AN CCXLIII. Several of these scenes depict recent events disguised as ancient ones. The Siege of Alesia by Julius Caesar and the Battle against Vercingetorix, for example, painted by Melchior Feselen in 1533 (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 686), feature the German imperial double-headed eagle on the standards of the assembled Roman troops, while the French fleur-de-lis appears on the flags of the defeated Gauls, among whom are also Ottomans.

The Discovery of the Cross, undoubtedly inspired by the Duchess of Bavaria-Munich, is universally regarded as containing the portrait of Maria Jakobaea in the guise of Saint Helena, who discovered in Jerusalem the cross on which Christ was crucified (after "Senfls Liedsätze ..." by Sonja Tröster, p. 251). It is also considered a reflection of the Wittelsbach family's Pietas Bavariae, particularly through a veneration of the True Cross (after "Engendering Pietas Austriaca ..." by Ilaria Hoppe, p.  195). The other figures in this scene are also portraits of important figures of the period.

Saint Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, bears a striking resemblance to depictions of Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg (1490-1545), Archbishop of Mainz and Archbishop of Magdeburg, such as Dürer's 1523 engraving or the portrait as Saint Martin painted by Simon Franck in 1543 (Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Mainz, inv. M06065). The first lady in the group of women behind Saint Helena (Maria Jakobaea), wearing headdresses characteristic of the late Middle Ages, is undoubtedly Cunigunde of Austria, resembling her portrait dating from around 1485 (Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, inv. 8 (1964.15)). The lady holding a book, dressed in English attire, is Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the Catholic Queen of England, depicted in similar dress in the portrait held at Lambeth Palace (inv. NPG L246). The lady in the green dress on the left is probably Eleonora of Austria (1498-1558), Queen of Portugal between 1518 and 1521 and Queen of France from 1530 to 1547, while the lady with a large headdress on her head and a gold necklace around her neck is probably Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), Queen of Germany, Bohemia and Hungary.

The woman in the pink dress and with the Italian-style hairstyle is very reminiscent of the images of Queen Bona Sforza by Giovanni Cariani and Bernardino Licinio, which I have identified. The Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania, Lady of Ruthenia, and Duchess of Bari, is kneeling beside her distant relative, Catherine of Aragon. They are united by their shared, now largely forgotten, Hispano-Aragonese heritage and by their veneration of the True Cross.

Already a princess in the Kingdom of Naples, Bona became the main character in an anonymous sentimental novel in Spanish, printed in Valencia in 1513 under the title "Question of Love" (Cuestión de amor). The story recounts the chivalrous love of Flamiano (Jeroni de Fenollet i de Centelles), a Valencian nobleman living in Naples, with Belisana (Bona) (after "Cuestion de amor ..." by Françoise Vigier, p. 25-26, 132). She was also praised in poems in Spanish, such as the one published in Toledo in 1527 in the Cancionero general (after "Bona Sforza" by Adam Darowski, p. 18, 45-46, 50). Bona's daughters adopted the traditional Spanish title of Infanta. Probably as early as the 1520s, Antonio Niccolò Carmignano addressed the poem Alla Serenissima Infante di Polonia to Bona's eldest daughter, Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559), and in another poem compares her to Queen Isabella I of Castile. He also uses the Spanish title of Infante to refer to Bona's son Sigismund Augustus in the poem entitled Allo infante serenissimo re jovene, written around 1530.

Although the scene itself is clearly inspired by Italian compositions, such as those of the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio (e.g. the Sermon of Saint Stephen, dating from around 1514 and preserved in the Louvre), the technique and colors are close to those of Dürer. The origin of these inspirations remains uncertain, as, according to confirmed information, the artist visited Italy in 1540, where he died in Bologna. In 1529, he painted a full-length portrait of the two-year-old son of Anna Jagiellonica, Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1527-1576). It is therefore probable that he visited Vienna or Prague, or that he was inspired by other effigies (Liechtenstein Collections, inv. GE 950). In 1534 he had made a copy of a version of Titian's composition - Young lady at her toilet, considered a portrait of Laura Dianti or Isabella Boschetti (Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg, inv. L 841).

It is also worth mentioning here a "Portrait of a princely lady" (Bildnis einer fürstlichen Dame) by Beham, which I had already considered in 2016 as a possible likeness of Bona. This painting, presumably belonging to the "small Wittelsbach series", was in the Bavarian National Museum before the Second World War, alongside a similar portrait of Susanna of Bavaria, probably from the same series. It likely comes from Schleissheim Palace, near Munich (Marburg Photographic Archive, image no. 110.586). Although comparable to Beham's portraits of Maria Jakobaea, which are of a similar size, the facial features and costume differ from known portraits of the Duchess of Bavaria-Munich, as well as from those of Susanna. The facial features, however, correspond to those of the Queen of Poland, as seen in her later portraits.

An important clue for establishing Barthel's connections to the royal court in Sarmatia might be the figure of Hans Behem (ca. 1480-1533), also known as Beheim or Beham, a Nuremberg bell and cannon founder who served the royal court in Kraków. He settled in Poland around 1518 and, in 1520, served as master cannon founder during the Polish-Teutonic War. That same year, he was commissioned to cast the Sigismund Bell for Wawel Cathedral, founded by the monarch; it bears a German inscription - HANS BEHAM VON NVREMBERG - interspersed with his craftsman's mark, as well as a similar Latin inscription - IOANNES BOHEMVS DE NVREMBERGENSIS - on the opposite side. These large inscriptions, positioned beneath depictions of Saint Sigismund (the king's patron saint) and Saint Stanislaus (the kingdom's patron saint), accompanied by the royal coat of arms, attest to the high status enjoyed by this Nuremberg master in Poland, as well as to the great tolerance of the era.

The Latin version of his name, Joannes Bohemus (literally "John of Bohemia"), indicate that the family originated in Bohemia, a hypothesis also mentioned in scholarly literature. This surname further suggests that Hans was likely related to Barthel and his brother Hans Sebald, although the exact nature of these family ties remains unknown (compare "Sebald und Barthel Beham, zwei Maler der deutschen Renaissance" by Adolf Rosenberg p. 3). Hans's father, Hans Beheim the Elder (ca. 1460-1538), was an architect, appointed master builder of the city of Nuremberg for life in 1503. His portrait was painted by the Venetian artist Jacopo de' Barbari, whose work and style influenced those of Albrecht Dürer and Hans von Kulmbach.

At least one important work by Dürer was also located in Pomerania in the 16th century. The 1560 inventory of Wolgast Castle lists the portrait of Amalia of the Palatinate (1490-1524), painted by Dürer (Freulein Amalia, Pfalzgrevin am Rein, Herzog Georgens Gemhal, Dureri Contrafen und arbeit, item 3, after "Neue Beitrage zur Geschichte der Kunst und ihrer Denkmäler in Pommern" by Julius Mueller, p. 31). The castle was the residence of Philip I of Pomerania (1515-1560), Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast, grandson of Anna Jagiellon (1476-1503), sister of Sigismund I, on his father's side. Amalia was the mother of the duke and her portrait was probably made shortly before her marriage to George I of Pomerania (1493-1531) on May 22, 1513 in Szczecin. The inventory description suggests it might be an engagement portrait, as Amalia is referred to as Freulein, a traditional German title of respect for a young girl or unmarried woman. Consequently, the drawing of her holding a flower, taken from the Pomeranian "Book of Effigies" (Visierungsbuch), lost during World War II, was considered to be the work after Dürer (after "Die Bildnisse des pommerschen Herzogshauses" by Hellmuth Bethe, p. 6, image 3). However, it should also be noted that many other drawings in this collection were likely preparatory studies returned with the finished portrait. It is therefore probable that it was executed after Amalia's marriage by a member of Dürer's workshop sent to Pomerania. Dürer's original painting was likely destroyed in the 17th century.

These two images were certainly not the only representations of the Duchess of Pomerania. Dürer and his workshop likely also produced copies for Amalia's relatives. This is evidenced by the version of her portrait based on the aforementioned drawing, now housed at Gripsholm Castle in Sweden (oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm, inv. NMGrh 1112). The painting was probably executed by David Frumerie. It is believed to be an image of Beatrice of Baden (1492-1535), Countess Palatine of Simmern, while the actual portrait of Beatrice copied by Frumerie is believed to depict Anne of Foix (1484-1506), Queen of Bohemia, Croatia and Hungary, and third wife of King Vladislaus II Jagiellon (Nationalmuseum Stockholm, inv. NMGrh 303).

Duchess Amalia was the daughter of Margaret of Bavaria-Landshut (1456-1501) and it is likely that family ties had an impact on the choice of painter. Although the Wittelsbachs are not generally considered major patrons of Dürer, Nuremberg's proximity to their estates suggests that their interactions were more frequent than the surviving works and documents indicate. The most valuable remnant of these contracts is a drawing with a portrait of Susanna of Bavaria (1502-1543), daughter of Albert IV and Cunigunde of Austria, and wife of Otto Henry. This drawing, dated 1525 (in the upper right), is probably a preparatory study for a painted portrait (Harvard Art Museums, chalk on paper, 40.3 x 29.4 cm, inv. 1949.1). Before marrying Otto Henry in 1529, Susanna was the wife of Casimir (1481-1527), Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, nephew of King Sigismund I and son of Sophia Jagiellon. Casimir's portrait was painted by Hans von Kulmbach, Dürer's pupil, in 1511 (Alte Pinakothek, inv. 9482).

​Portrait of Jost Schilling (d. 1513) by circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1507 or after, Private collection. 

​The Fall of the Rebel Angels with portrait of Jost Schilling (d. 1513) as donor by Albrecht Dürer, 1509, British Museum. 

​Tapestry depicting the family tree of Hedwig Jagiellon (1457-1502), Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut by Christian de Roy after design by Peter Gertner, 1540, Bavarian National Museum in Munich. 

​Portrait of ​​King Louis II Jagiellon (1506-1526) by workshop of Barthel Beham, ca. 1535, Private collection.

​Portrait of ​​King Louis II Jagiellon (1506-1526) by David Frumerie, 1660s, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

​Portrait of ​​King Sigismund I (1467-1548) by David Frumerie, 1660s, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of ​​King Sigismund I (1467-1548) by Barthel Beham, ca. 1530, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of ​​Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) by Barthel Beham, ca. 1530, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Finding of the Cross with portraits of Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557), Queen Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), Duchess Cunigunde of Austria (1465-1520), Duchess Maria Jakobaea of Baden-Sponheim (1507-1580) as Saint Helena and Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg (1490-1545) as Saint Macarius by Barthel Beham, 1530, Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

​Portrait of a lady, perhaps ​​Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) by Barthel Beham, ca. 1535, Bavarian National Museum in Munich, lost.  

​​Study drawing for portrait of Amalia of the Palatinate (1490-1524), Duchess of Pomerania, from the "Book of Effigies" by circle of Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1513, Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin, lost during World War II. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

​Portrait of Amalia of the Palatinate (1490-1524), Duchess of Pomerania by David Frumerie (?), 1660s, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

​​Study drawing for portrait of Susanna of Bavaria (1502-1543) by Albrecht Dürer, 1525, Harvard Art Museums.

Albrecht Dürer trained and influenced several major Renaissance artists, particularly in Nuremberg.

Hans von Kulmbach (ca. 1480-1522), a close pupil and assistant to the painter, is believed to have been active in Kraków during the periods 1509-1511 and 1514-1515; there, he produced numerous works for Sarmatian patrons - most notably Johann Boner (1462-1523), banker to King Sigismund I, as well as for the King himself. He is considered the author of the paintings on the reverse sides of the wings of the Pławno triptych, depicting Christus Rex and Maria Regina, now held at the National Museum in Warsaw (panels, 145.2 x 46.5 cm, inv. Śr.18/4; Śr.18/5). This triptych likely served as the model for the silver altarpiece commissioned by the king and crafted in Albrecht Glim's workshop in Nuremberg. The state of preservation of these two panels is poor; moreover, they were likely intended to serve merely as initial "sketches" for the monarch's approval, yet their style also allows for their attribution to Dürer's workshop. The altarpiece created by Glim was destroyed by Swedish forces during the Deluge (1655-1660); we will therefore likely never know whether the wings were painted by Dürer.

It was most likely Hans, or his workshop, who created the bust-length portrait of Margravine Sophia Jagiellon (1464-1512), sister of Sigismund I, in the early 16th century. This painting, now in a private collection (oil on panel, 37.2 x 28.9 cm), forms a pair with the portrait of Sophia's husband, Margrave Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1460-1536); furthermore, in the early 19th century, Franz Wolfgang Röhrich (1787-1834) copied similar three-quarter-length portraits of the Margravine and her husband (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 07.245.2 and 07.245.1). Kulmbach is also the artist behind the splendid portrait of the Margravine's son, Casimir (1481-1527), painted in 1511 (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 9482).

Kulmbach's stay in Poland is no longer a matter of dispute today; however, at the end of the 19th century, Leonard Lepszy struggled to convince public opinion of it, as he explained in his article (after "Kultura epoki jagiellońskiej w świetle wystawy zabytków w 500 letnią rocznicę odnowienia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego", p. 58-62). Many of his works were lost during the country's turbulent history, including during the Second World War, when several were looted by German occupation forces. One such work was a double-sided panel from the collection of Katarzyna Potocka, née Branicka (1825-1907), which had been housed at the "Pod Baranami" Palace in Kraków (panel, 75 x 50 cm, inv. 274). One side depicted the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, while the other showed Saint Barbara. Like the Saint Catherine of Alexandria held by the Czartoryski Museum (panel, 56 x 38.2 cm, inv. MNK XII-328), this piece was a fragment of a side wing from a triptych originating in the Pauline church at Skałka in Kraków. The triptych's central panel, depicting the Adoration of the Magi, is now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin (panel, 158.9 x 112.8 cm, inv. 596A; signed and dated center-left: 1511 / HK in ligature). Only one fragment of this triptych remains at the Skałka monastery; it depicts the Flight into Egypt and, on the reverse, the lower part of the figure of Saint Barbara.

Given that the Dormition of the Virgin panel, featuring a donor bearing the Rawicz family coat of arms, held at the Czartoryski Museum (inv. MNK XII-341) was previously thought to be part of this triptych, it was assumed that the patron was Stanisław Jarocki (d. 1515), castellan of Zawichost (after "Hans Suess z Kulmbachu" by Józef Muczkowski and Józef Zdanowski, p. 26). However, as that this panel is now attributed to Michael Lancz von Kitzingen (a work painted in 1522 for the Ożarowski Chapel in Wawel Cathedral) and is significantly larger than the other panels, the hypothesis that the Skałka triptych was commissioned by Jarocki appears less likely.

Lepszy described the panel depicting Saint Barbara as a work "reminiscent of the harmony and coloring of the Venetian masters". She is shown wearing a crown and a low-cut gown, characteristic of the Sarmatian fashion of the first quarter of the 16th century. Similar costumes appear in the scene of the Self-burial of Saint John the Evangelist, painted by Kulmbach in 1516 for the altarpiece commissioned by Johann Boner (St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków). As this scene is believed to include a portrait of the patron on the left, the ladies depicted on the right are likely Queen Barbara Zapolya (d. 1515) and Johann's wife, Szczęsna Morsztynówna.

The composition of the Skałka triptych draws heavily on the Paumgartner Altarpiece, painted by Dürer around 1500 (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 701-706), in which the figures of saints depicted on the panels are disguised portraits of the donors: the brothers Stephan Paumgartner (1480-1525), shown on the left as Saint George, and Lukas Paumgartner (d. 1515), on the right as Saint Eustace (compare "The Cult of Saint Katherine of Alexandria in Late-Medieval Nuremberg" by Anne Simon, p. 273). Consequently, the depictions of Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara on the Skałka triptych were likely also portraits of real individuals connected to the altarpiece's patron. Furthermore, probably during the 1520s, an unknown follower of Hans von Kulmbach created a similar triptych for Sandomierz Cathedral (now housed in the Diocesan Museum). This follower of Kulmbach altered several elements, notably the figure of the Virgin Mary on the central panel. The left panel, which has survived, is believed to depict Jogaila of Lithuania.

Georg Pencz (ca. 1500-1550) is another prominent pupil of Dürer whose ties to Poland are well documented in scholarly literature. In July 1535, he received payment for fourteen paintings depicting the Passion cycle, intended for the reverse side of the wings of the silver altar for the Sigismund Chapel at Wawel Castle (Sic Georgio Pinczenstain pictori, qui laborem extrinsecus pictori[s] ornat, dati ad laborem et rationem monetae fl 290). He executed this major, prestigious commission for the royal mausoleum's high altar, likely basing his work on drawings by Hans Dürer. Just like the main altar, created by Melchior Baier the Elder, the panels were produced in Nuremberg.

Pencz stayed in Italy from 1526 to 1528/1529, and again around 1539. After the death of Crispin Herrant in 1549, he accepted the position of court painter to Duke Albert of Prussia, a cousin of Sigismund II Augustus (appointed on September 6, 1550). While traveling to Królewiec, the painter and his son Egidius died unexpectedly in Wrocław in October 1550 (after "Georg Pencz: Between Nuremberg, Cracow and Königsberg" by Katrin Dyballa, p. 3, 5, 7). Both were likely buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (van mayster gorge bentze eyn maler van nurbergk; van egydiuss dess oben geschriben mayster gorge son, after "Georg Pencz ..." by Adam Morawiec, p. 132-133).

The painting by Pencz from the Dominican Monastery in Kraków was likely created around the same time as the panels of the silver altar. It depicts the Coronation of the Virgin (panel, 66.8 x 91.5 cm). According to the convent's archives, the work came from private donations and formed the upper section of a larger composition. It appears to be inspired by a 1510 engraving by Dürer, similar to the one featured in the Wedelicki Trilogy (Archdiocesan Museum in Warsaw).

Two other important paintings by Pencz held in Polish museums exhibit a more Italianate style and draw heavily on Venetian painting (notably inviting comparison with the works of Bernardino Licinio, a contemporary of Pencz). These are Caritas Romana of 1538 in the National Museum in Warsaw, acquired from the Jan Popławski collection in 1935 (oil on canvas, 76 x 53.5 cm, inv. M.Ob.823 MNW, earlier 77082, signed and dated lower left: 15 PG 38), and Lot and his daughters of 1544, held at Wawel Castle (oil on panel, 93 x 124 cm, inv. ZKnW-PZS 7055, dated and signed lower right: 1544 / GP). A drawing based on this latter composition, signed by Pencz, is held at the Albertina in Vienna (inv. 20699, with the monogram GP in the lower right corner). This work is identified as the one inventoried in 1718 in the Imperial Treasury and Art Chamber in Prague; it likely served as a preparatory sketch (or ricordo) and bears the artist's handwritten annotations regarding the color palette.

That same year, 1544, the painter produced two other significant compositions inspired by Italian art. One of them, held at the National Museum in Wrocław, depicts Christ crowned with thorns (oil and tempera on panel, 47 x 37 cm, inv. MNWr VIII-2301, signed and dated upper left: 15 GP 44). This work draws inspiration from the art of Andrea Solario (ca. 1465-1524), a painter of the Milanese school, and originated in the collection of Johann Sigismund Haunold (1634-1711), a patrician and collector from Wrocław. It is possible that the painting arrived in Wrocław as early as 1544, as the city's Archdiocesan Museum also holds a painting on a convex panel depicting Christ as the Man of Sorrows (Ecce Homo); likely dating from the same period, it is executed in Pencz's style, possibly by a Silesian painter trained in Pencz's workshop. Another work is the portrait of a young man wearing a prominent codpiece, housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and inspired by the portraits of Agnolo Bronzino (inv. 1890, n. 1891). Interestingly, the sitter in this latter portrait is, according to my identification, Ulrich III Fugger (1526-1584), the son of Catherine Thurzo de Bethlenfalva (ca. 1488-1535) from Kraków; he was painted by Pencz shortly before beginning his studies in Bologna in 1544. Likely around 1550, shortly before his arrival in Wrocław, Pencz also created a beautiful portrait of Otto Henry, Count Palatine of Neuburg and a relative of King Sigismund II Augustus (Hermitage Museum, inv. ГЭ-4766).

The "Song on the Death of His Grace King Sigismund I the Old" (Piesn o smierci krola iego miłosci Starego Sigmunda pierwssego), for four voices, published in Kraków around 1548, features a woodcut on the verso of the title page, signed with the monogram CS (National Library of Poland, SD XVI.O.140). Its author was most likely Crispin Scharffenberg (ca. 1519-1576), originally from Lubań in Upper Lusatia, trained in Kraków but active in Silesia. The woodcut is a copy of an earlier work by Hans Springinklee, a pupil and collaborator of Albrecht Dürer, created around 1518 for an edition of Koberger's Hortulus Animae (British Museum, inv. 1895,0122.423). A few years earlier, in 1522, several woodcuts by another of Dürer's pupils, Hans Leonard Schäufelein, were published in Kraków in Baltazar Opec's work Żywot wssechmocnego syna bożego, pana Jezu Krysta ..., dedicated to Sigismund I's sister Princess Elizabeth Jagiellon (1482-1517) (Jagiellonian Library, BJ St. Dr. Cim. 8032). Schäufelein is also considered the artist behind a finely painted Portrait of a man in a yellow jacket, now held at the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on panel, 41 x 32 cm, inv. M.Ob.297 MNW). For a long time, this work was thought to be by Dürer, not only because of the "AD" monogram in the upper-left corner, but also due to the painting's style. It was likely created around 1507, shortly after the painter left Dürer's studio. The painting comes from the collection of Cyprian Lachnicki (1824-1906) in Warsaw.

The connection between another prominent pupil of Dürer, Hans Baldung Grien (1484/1485-1545), and Poland has fallen into oblivion, as has the major work he created for patrons from Sarmatia: the depiction of Saint Stanislaus and Saint Florian, accompanied by the coats of arms of Bishop Jan Konarski (1447-1525) in the Kraków Missal, published in Strasbourg in 1510 (Kórnik Library, sygn.Cim.Qu.2857). He also created several other woodcuts for this volume, as well as the print depicting ​elected Queen Wanda from the Sarmatiae Europae descriptio, published in 1578 (National Library of Poland, SD XVI.F.604). 

Several other stylistically related woodcuts appear in a work titled Christophori Kobilienski, eqvitis Poloni, Variorvm epigrammatvm ad Stanislavm Rozimontanvm libellvs (Jagiellonian Library, BJ St. Dr. Cim. 4417), written by the nobleman Krzysztof Kobylieński (ca. 1520-1565), probably a courtier to the Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561). Published in Kraków in 1558, this book contains, in addition to engravings depicting Jagiellonian monarchs, a medallion portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam (likely by Hans Lützelburger; reproduced twice) and a copy of Hans Springinklee's David and Bathsheba (British Museum, inv. E,7.239) - four magnificent woodcuts in the style of Baldung. 

The first depicts Saint Stanislaus raising the knight from the dead (IN IMAGINEM STANISLAI, p. 15); it is stylistically close to Baldung's Saint Valentine (British Museum, inv. 1900,1019.23).

The second is a profile portrait of "a certain Italian heroine" (IN IMAGINEM CVIVSDAM HEROINÆ ITALA DONO DATAM, p. 35). According to the poem, this woodcut reproduces a portrait given as a gift - presumably to the Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski. The poet praises the painter's talent, describing him as "greater than the great Apelles", while the woman - possessing "noble beauty", a "gentle face", and "radiating majesty" - surpasses the "holy spouse of Jove" (i.e., Juno, queen of the gods) and the "Cyprian goddess" (Venus). This context strongly suggests that the image is a portrait of Queen Bona Sforza, who is mentioned in another poem within the volume. Other elements support this identification: a profile portrait consistent with the old Milanese tradition, Central European attire from the 1530s, a turban-style headdress indicating marital status (matron with covered hair), and the sitter's resemblance to a cameo bearing Bona's likeness held by the Metropolitan Museum (inv. 17.190.869). The image also recalls portraits of the queen by Cranach the Elder (identified by me) as well as an anonymous 19th-century drawing based on a lost portrait of the queen from 1540 (Jagiellonian Library, BJ Graf. I.R. 2326). The costume is similar in these works, and in both images, the sitter holds a plant: an olive branch in the 1540 portrait and a flower in the woodcut.

The musical symbols appearing to the right of the woodcut depicting Queen Bona are also of great interest. The Queen was a well-known patron of music and these symbols may well involve the technique of soggetto cavato - that is, a subject carved out of the vowels, much like the Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae composed by Josquin des Prez. That work was dedicated to Ercole I d'Este (1431-1505), Duke of Ferrara and husband of Eleonora of Aragon (1450-1493), a relative of Bona. The poem devoted to the portrait of the "Italian heroine" is preceded by the one titled "On the Pleasure of Venus" (DE VENERIS VOLVPTATE), which warns against excessive or ruinous carnal desire.

The third woodcut depicts a voivode's daughter named Sophia (AD VIRGINEM QUANDAM PALATINI FILIAM SERTA DONATA, p. 38). It shows an unmarried young woman with loose hair wearing a wreath of flowers, while the accompanying poem speaks of the fleeting nature of beauty and the enduring nature of the spirit. The subject may be Zofia Tęczyńska (d. 1588), daughter of the Voivode of Sandomierz, Jan Tęczyński (1492-1541). She was a Catholic and married the Protestant Stanisław Ostroróg (1519-1568) in 1544.

The last print depicts a personification of death in the form of a skeleton wielding a scythe (p. 59). A copy of this print, executed by a woodcutter from the circle of Maciej Scharffenberg, was published in Kraków in 1542 on the title page of Śmierci z Mistrzem dwojakie gadania ...; the original prints were therefore produced prior to that date, likely in the 1530s or around 1540, and the woodblocks presumably originate from the Kobylieński collection.

The probable connection to Poland, and, more broadly, to the Jagiellonian monarchies of Central Europe during Dürer's time - is also his first name and his patron saint. The painter's father recorded in the family chronicle that he had given his own first name to his famous son. Although it is not known which Saint Adalbert (or Albert) was the patron of Albrecht Dürer the Elder, a goldsmith from Ajtós near Gyula in Hungary, one of them - Saint Adalbert of Prague (ca. 956-997), Bishop of Prague, born Vojtěch Slavníkovec, was particularly venerated in Hungary. Saint Adalbert baptized the first King of Hungary, Stephen I, and is also the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Esztergom, the primatial see of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary. 

No depiction of Saint Adalbert by Albrecht Dürer is known; however, around 1530, his brother Hans painted the wings of a triptych featuring Saint Stanislaus and Saint Adalbert, the patron saints of Poland, a work I attributed to this artist in 2012 (National Museum in Warsaw, tempera and oil on panel, dimensions of each wing: 155 x 62 cm). It is also worth noting that the woodcut depicting Saint Adalbert, found in Jakub Wujek's Postille Catholiczney część trzecia ..., published in Kraków in 1575 (National Library of Poland, SD XVI.F.23), likely draws inspiration from a lost original by Dürer depicting either Saint Adalbert or Saint Willibald, much like the illustration in the Eichstätt Missal, published in Nuremberg in 1517 (LACMA, inv. M.61.19a-b). This same model was adopted around the same time by Hans Springinklee (British Museum, inv. 1927,0614.94) and subsequently by Georg Erlinger, who transformed the figure of Saint Willibald into that of Saint Erasmus (British Museum, inv. E,7.188). For his part, Stanisław Samostrzelnik drew inspiration from one of these depictions when creating the portrait of Bishop Piotr Tomicki (1464-1535), painted around 1530 (Franciscan Monastery in Kraków).

All these facts allow us to conclude that it is very likely that Dürer stayed in Poland during his years of wandering and that he produced works for Sarmatian clients later in his career. Unfortunately, all of these paintings were destroyed during the country's turbulent history, or sold, like the portraits of a "Venetian" woman from the collection of Witold Klemens Wańkowicz (1888-1948) in Warsaw, now housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. GG 6440). 

To conclude, it is also worth mentioning Dürer's self-portraits in disguise, such as the self-portrait as Christ as the Man of Sorrows (Vir Dolorum), a drawing from 1522, half-naked and holding the instruments of the Passion, such as the whip and fasces (Kunsthalle Bremen, inv. B 36, lost during the Second World War). It was a study for a painting, known from a copy in Weissenstein Castle in Pommersfelden (inv. 248), probably by Hans Hoffmann (ca. 1530-1591/1592), one of the earliest copyists of Dürer. In his best-known self-portrait, at the age of 28, in a fur coat, dated 1500 (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 537), the artist depicted himself in a pose similar to that used for depictions of Christ. For Dürer, this could be an interpretation of the doctrine of the Imitatio Christi and Renaissance topos of the "divine artist" (divino artista), through which the artist is likened to God by his parallel ability to create at will. The effigy in a fur coat was used in another composition from around 1520: Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, known from a copy by Georg Vischer from 1637 (Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inv. 1411). The artist also lent his features to Saint Caspar, one of the biblical Magi, in a painting created in 1504, probably for the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise (1463-1525) for the chapel of Wittenberg Castle (today at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, inv. 1890 n. 1434). 

​Portrait of a man in a yellow jacket by Hans Leonard Schäufelein, ca. 1507, National Museum in Warsaw.

Christus Rex and Maria Regina, reverses of the wings of the Pławno triptych, by Hans von Kulmbach or workshop of Albrecht Dürer, ca. 1514-1518, National Museum in Warsaw.

​Visualization of the Skałka triptych by Hans von Kulmbach, 1511.

​Saint Catherine of Alexandria, from the Skałka triptych by Hans von Kulmbach, 1511, Czartoryski Museum.

​Saint Barbara in Sarmatian costume, from the Skałka triptych by Hans von Kulmbach, 1511, Potocki Palace in Kraków, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka 

​Portrait of Sophia Jagiellon (1464-1512), Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach, by Hans von Kulmbach or workshop, ca. 1511, Private collection. 

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of a lady, perhaps Queen Barbara Zapolya (d. 1515), by Hans von Kulmbach, ca. 1516, lost. © Marcin Latka 

Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of a lady, perhaps Szczęsna Morsztynówna, by Hans von Kulmbach, ca. 1516, lost. © Marcin Latka 

​Visualization of the Sandomierz triptych by circle of Hans von Kulmbach, 1520s.

​Saint Stanislaus and Saint Adalbert, patron saints of Poland, wings of a triptych by Hans Dürer, ca. 1530, National Museum in Warsaw. 

​Coronation of the Virgin by Georg Pencz, 1530s, Dominican Monastery in Kraków.

​Caritas Romana by Georg Pencz, 1538, National Museum in Warsaw.

​Lot and his daughters by Georg Pencz, 1544, Wawel Royal Castle.

​Christ crowned with thorns by Georg Pencz, 1544, National Museum in Wrocław.

​Woodcut with Saint Stanislaus by Hans Baldung Grien, ca. 1540, Jagiellonian Library. 

​Woodcut with the portrait of Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) by Hans Baldung Grien, ca. 1540, Jagiellonian Library. 

​Woodcut with the portrait of a voivode's daughter named Sophia, perhaps Zofia Tęczyńska (d. 1588), by Hans Baldung Grien, ca. 1540, Jagiellonian Library. 

​Woodcut with the personification of death by Hans Baldung Grien, ca. 1540, Jagiellonian Library.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Maria Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) by Hans Baldung Grien, ca. 1540, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of a voivode's daughter named Sophia, perhaps Zofia Tęczyńska (d. 1588), by Hans Baldung Grien, ca. 1540, lost. © Marcin Latka

In 1558, in Kraków, the nobleman Krzysztof Kobylieński (Kobylański, Kobyleński, Kobyliński, ca. 1520-1565), published a work titled Christophori Kobilienski, eqvitis Poloni, Variorvm epigrammatvm ad Stanislavm Rozimontanvm libellvs (Jagiellonian Library, BJ St. Dr. Cim. 4417). Beyond its literary merit, this collection of Latin epigrams also contains an invaluable assemblage of period woodcuts and offers a precious glimpse into the artistic culture of 16th-century Sarmatia.

Krzysztof was a descendant of Queen Elizabeth of Pilica (d. 1420), also known as Elżbieta Granowska, the third wife of Jogaila. He was likely a Calvinist and pursued his theological studies abroad - almost certainly in Wittenberg, given that he mentions Philipp Melanchthon in one of his poems (Dixerat hæc quôda doctus mihi forte Melacthon), as well as in Italy (after "Nieznane portrety Zygmunta Starego" by Józef Muczkowski, p. 129). He was probably the courtier at the court of Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561), and the work contains several references to the latter.

It was likely during his studies abroad that he became acquainted with the works of Erasmus of Rotterdam (d. 1536) and acquired a woodblock depicting the philosopher in profile; this image is considered to be based on a portrait drawn from life by Hans Holbein and cut into wood, presumably by Hans Lützelburger (d. 1526). Erasmus's likeness appears twice in Kobylieński's work. The other woodcuts were likely acquired in Poland or commissioned by the author. Among them are four prints by Hans Baldung Grien (attributed by me), including one depicting Saint Stanislaus, a copy of Hans Springinklee's David and Bathsheba (the original was created around 1518), portraits of King Sigismund I and his son Sigismund II Augustus, as well as prints featuring the coats of arms of the author (Grzymała) and his mother (Leliwa), the arms of Hetman Tarnowski (dated 1557), and those of Andrzej Zebrzydowski (1496-1560), Bishop of Kraków. The epigram dedicated to Zebrzydowski praises the wisdom of this Catholic bishop. In two other poems, the Protestant author pays tribute to two further Catholic bishops: Samuel Maciejowski (1499-1550) and Jan Lubrański (1456-1520). He also devotes a poem to the Latin poet Klemens Janicki (1516-1543), whom Italy honored with a laurel (IN TVMVLVM CLEMENTIS IANICII QVEM ITALIA LAVREA HONORAVERAT).

In the poem AD HIERONYMVM MASAM VENETVM IN LIBELLVM ANDREÆ ZEBRIDOVII EPISCOPI CRACOVIEN., he addresses Girolamo Masa of Venice regarding the booklet of Bishop Andrzej Zebrzydowski. In AD QVENDAM ITALVM, he addresses a certain Italian man released from prison, and in DE CAEDIBVS EIVS TEMPESTATIS PRINCIPVM IN ANGLIA, he laments the death of the Protestant Lady Jane Grey (d. 1554), Queen of England - described as a "young woman distinguished by her birth, renown, and learning" - which suggests that he likely stayed in England around the time of her death, which occurred in February 1554.

In several other poems, the author refers to portraits and paintings. In the poem titled "On the deceptive portraits in a certain citadel" (DE FALSIS IMAGINIBVS IN ARCE QVADAM), he criticizes the inaccuracy of painters who produced flawed or reality-distorting portraits of King Sigismund I and Bona Sforza, of their children Sigismund Augustus and Isabella Jagiellon (Fallaci picta es tuque ISABELLA manu), and of Prince Louis Jagiellon. Kobylieński maintains that "since the face is considered a reflection of the spirit, a poor painting misrepresents its true nature", adding: "Yet, few are the faces whose portraits capture their true beauty with accuracy". Interestingly, on the next page, we see a full-size portrait of King Sigismund Augustus wearing the crown jewels, accompanied by the poem "On the likeness of Julius Caesar" (IN EFFIGIEM IVLII CÆSARIS), which reads: "Here you are truly depicted, bravest Julius Caesar" (Pingeris hicce mere Caesar fortissime Iuli). 

In the poem titled "On the portrait of Emperor Charles V, owned by Count Jan of Tarnów, Castellan of Kraków, rendered true to life" (IN IMAGINEM CAROLI V. CÆSARIS APVD IOANNEM COMITEM A TARNOW CASTEL: CRAC: Ad uiuum expressam), the poet describes the painting belonging to Hetman Tarnowski, most likely executed by Titian or Lambert Sustris "with the artistry of an Apelles". This text is followed by a poem dedicated to the portrait of Hetman Tarnowski (IN IMAGINEM IOANNIS COMITIS A TARNOW CASTELLANI CRACOVIENSIS). Two other paintings described by Kobylieński may also have belonged to the Hetman: one depicting the death of King Louis II Jagiellon (1506-1526) at the Battle of Mohács in 1526 (IN HISTORIAM LVDOVICI REGIS CÆSI DEPICTAM), and the other showing Saint Paul caught up to the third heaven (IN IMAGINEM RAPTI PAVLI). The author also praises the beauty of a silk tapestry from Tarnowski's collection depicting Orpheus playing the lyre, which was most likely produced in Brussels workshops (IN IMAGINEM ORPHOEI APVD IOANNEM A TARNOW Sericea tapeta intexti). 

The work also contains a fable (fabellam) titled METAMORPHOSEOS PVELLAE ET PARVVLI (Kobylieński's work)​, a tale about the metamorphoses of a girl and a boy, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses. The woodcut illustrating this tale, likely created in Kraków, depicts the naked girl in a river alongside a ram. A reference to Ovid also appears in the book's preface, where Kobylieński addresses his friend Stanislaus Rosimontanus - identified as Stanisław Różanka (ca. 1520-1572), a Calvinist and physician at the Tarnowski court, educated in Padua between 1553 and 1556, complaining about having received no news from him since his departure from Kraków for Ruthenia.

References to Ovid and his Metamorphoses shed light on why a woodcut, similar to the one illustrating the fable, was placed almost at the beginning of the book, right after the preface. It depicts the mythological musical contest between Apollo, god of music and poetry, and Pan, god of wild nature and rustic music (In Imaginem Apollinis cum Panisco decertantis). The figure of Apollo, shown on the right playing the lute with highly realistic features, serves in this context as a mythological "metamorphosis" of Kobylieński, while the satyrs on the left embody his critics, who are also the targets of the phrase inscribed to the right of the image: "Against incompetent critics" (Contra inoptos æstimatores). 

Given the Venetian works associated with Hetman Tarnowski (his funerary monument and the paintings I have identified), as well as the author's training in Italy, the painting containing his disguised portrait was likely executed in Venice. The composition of the woodcut evokes Titian's Jupiter and Antiope, also known as the Venus of Pardo (Louvre Museum in Paris; INV 752; MR 521), a work the master likely sent around 1552 to Prince Philip of Spain (the future Philip II). The upper section of the composition features a squirrel on the tree, echoing Titian's painting Venus and Cupid, known from a print made by Niccolò Boldrini in 1566. A squirrel also appears in portraits of Barbara Radziwill by Paris Bordone, identified by me, although, in the case of the Kobylieński portrait, it likely carries a different meaning, perhaps related to cunning. Krzysztof clearly sympathized with Sigismund Augustus's second wife, given that he included the epigram about her tombstone in the book (IN TVMVLVM REGINAE OLIM POLONIÆ BARBARÆ). 

Further, in this context, the tapestry from the Tarnowski collection undoubtedly held symbolic significance as well: art and intellect can tame primal, violent instincts and soothe human vices; through his patronage and actions, the hetman thus establishes balance and order - "soothing fierce bears with his melody and the power of love" (Mitis amore tenens saevos modulamine Vrfos), as Kobylieński wrote in his poem. This tapestry was undoubtedly inspired by the series commissioned in Brussels by King Sigismund II Augustus and may well have originated from the same workshops (the tapestry depicting the Paradise Bliss features nude depictions of the King and his third wife). In 1549, Emperor Charles V, who had conferred the imperial title upon Tarnowski in 1547, commissioned a bronze statue depicting himself in the guise of a nude ancient god. Created in Milan by the Italian sculptors Leone and Pompeo Leoni, the work was presented to the Emperor in Brussels in 1556 (Prado Museum, inv. E000273). Furthermore, one of the most significant depictions of Orpheus from the first half of the 16th century is that of Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574) in the guise of the Thracian bard: the Duke of Florence was painted nude by Agnolo Bronzino around 1537-1539, thereby symbolizing the establishment of peace and stability in Florence (Philadelphia Museum of Art, inv. 1950-86-1). The Tarnowski tapestry thus very likely served as a portrait of the hetman as well, and was presumably related to the composition found in a 1563 edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses, illustrated by Virgil Solis (1514-1562) and other artists.

Metamorphoses of a girl and a boy from Krzysztof Kobylieński's Variorvm epigrammatvm ... by circle of Łazarz Andrysowicz (Officina Lazari), 1558, Jagiellonian Library. 

Apollo contending with Pan from Krzysztof Kobylieński's Variorvm epigrammatvm ..., containing his disguised portrait, by circle of Łazarz Andrysowicz (Officina Lazari), 1558, Jagiellonian Library. 

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the painting depicting Apollo contending with Pan with disguised portrait of Krzysztof Kobylieński (ca. 1520-1565) by Titian, before 1558, lost. © Marcin Latka 

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the tapestry depicting Orpheus playing to the animals with disguised portrait of Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski (1488-1561) by Willem de Pannemaker after desing by Michiel Coxie, ca. 1550, lost. © Marcin Latka 

On June 13, 1551, Duke Cosimo I de' Medici and his wife Eleanor of Toledo signed a contract with the Antwerp merchant Jan van der Walle for the purchase of the series of Creation Stories, composed of seven tapestries. This series was probably woven around 1547-1548 and offered for sale in the Augsburg market. According to a memorandum dated August 14, 1549, written in Prague on behalf of Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), daughter of Anna Jagellonica (1503-1547), who was to marry Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, in October of the same year, the Archduchess was interested in acquiring these tapestries.

At least since 1553, Cosimo I kept the entire set, depicting numerous nude figures, in the secret Guardaroba in Florence (after "The Story of the Creation" by Lucia Meoni, p. 304, 311-313). This series, based on cartoons by Pieter Coecke van Aelst, was woven in Brussels by the most celebrated weavers of the time: Jan van Tieghem, Frans Ghieteels, and Jan de Kempeneer, whose fame is linked to the extraordinary tapestries made for King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572), still preserved at Wawel Castle in Kraków (almost all of these tapestries were delivered to Wawel Castle before 1553, before the king's marriage to the aforementioned Archduchess Catherine).

This example illustrates the similarities in artistic patronage between the Jagiellonian and Medici families in the 1540s, while contacts between the ruling houses of Sarmatia and Tuscany date back to the consolidation of Medici power in Florence during the first half of the 16th century. Around 1537-1539, shortly after his accession to power in Florence, Agnolo Bronzino created a splendid allegorical portrait of Duke Cosimo, depicting him as the mythological musician and poet Orpheus (Philadelphia Museum of Art, oil on panel, 93.7 x 76.4 cm, inv. 1950-86-1). The Duke of Florence is shown nude, holding a lyre and calming Cerberus, the multi-headed dog, thus symbolizing the peace, harmony, and cultural restoration brought by Cosimo to Florence after years of political chaos.

The "Metamorphoses" of the Roman poet Ovid, which can be regarded as the national poem of 16th-century Sarmatia (compare "Ovidius inter Sarmatas" by Barbara Hryszko, p. 453, 455), contains a clue as to why disguised portraits (also known as portraits historié or crypto-portraits) were more popular there than in other parts of Europe.

Like Bronzino's nude portrait of Cosimo, the portrait historié by Paris Bordone, now in the Hermitage Museum (inv. ГЭ-163), is certainly not the only one commissioned by Sigismund Augustus to legitimize the status of his mistress, Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551). Bordone depicted the same model, dressed in a blue tunic, a white chemise, and with a similar hairstyle, in a painting now in the Louvre in Paris (oil on canvas, 105 x 85 cm, inv. RF 1474). The woman wears a necklace of long pearls intertwined between her breasts (Barbara was known for her love of pearls) and holds roses, which explains why this painting is known as another representation of the goddess Flora or as the portrait of a young woman with roses. The painting is generally dated to around 1540 or the second quarter of the 16th century and comes from the collection of Louis-Alfred Caroillon (1814-1904), Count of Vandeul in Paris.

Bordone and his workshop produced several copies of this painting. The finest was in Berlin before the Second World War. Formerly imperial property, housed in the Imperial Gallery, it was loaned in 1938-1939 to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin (oil on canvas, 102 x 84 cm, inv. GG 2833). This version was signed with the monogram P. B. on the stone pedestal in the lower left corner. Another very fine copy, known as "Portrait of a Courtesan", was recorded in 1964 in a private New York collection and had belonged, before 1916, to the collection of Elia Volpi (1858-1938) in Florence (oil on canvas, 104.7 x 86.3 cm, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 38868). A fine copy, probably made by the painters' workshop, is in the Sabauda Gallery in Turin (oil on canvas, 118 x 91 cm, inv. 440 - Sabauda Gallery). The model is identical, but the roses on the pedestal have been replaced by white and red carnations in a glass vase (besides their amorous connotations, these two colors could also refer to the national colors of Sarmatia, in addition Queen Barbara is holding a red/pink and white rose in her portrait at Chatsworth House, inv. PA 725). The woman holds cherries, while above her, a squirrel on a leash devours them. The cherry was commonly seen as a symbol of the sweetness resulting from good deeds (after "Italian paintings from the sixteenth century in Dutch public collections", p. 124). A symbol of sin and carnal love (cupiditas), the squirrel appears as a companion of the goddess Venus, for example in an engraving by Niccolò Boldrini after Titian, dating from 1566 (after "Animals and Courts ...", ed. Mark Hengerer and Nadir Weber, p. 314). This version probably comes from the historical collection of the House of Savoy.

In another series of images, the painter transformed the same model into Venus, goddess of love, accompanied by her son Cupid, god of desire. The version attributed to Bordone, but more likely a workshop copy of a lost original, as evidenced by its style, is located in the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament (oil on canvas, 107 x 93 cm). It is generally dated to the 1540s. Another workshop copy is in Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California (oil on canvas, 116 x 94 cm, inv. 6574, Fototeca Zeri, Numero scheda 38867). Before 1935, the work belonged to the Jewish art collectors Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer, who were forced to sell it during the liquidation of their Berlin gallery. In the version from the collection of the last King of Württemberg, William II (1848-1921), the painter changed the model's hair color to blond, idealized the face, and added a mountain landscape in the background (oil on canvas, 98.5 x 84.5 cm, Hargesheimer Kunstauktionen Düsseldorf, September 13, 2025, lot 3440). A version or copy of one of these compositions was also in Rome, because in the 17th century a Roman painter reused the model in a painting known as The Temptation (Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome, oil on canvas, 75 x 61 cm, inv. 695).
 
The same composition, though mirrored, was also reused by an unknown Flemish painter, probably in Antwerp, around the mid-16th century. The work is now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (oil on panel, 80.5 x 65 cm, inv. 365). The sitter and details of her dress, however, are different. The painting depicts Salome, a biblical figure, while the distinctive features of her face and her dress suggest that it is a disguised portrait of a wealthy noblewoman. The sitter's characteristic right ear suggests that she is the same person as in many paintings by Lambert Sustris, namely Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), according to my identification. The painting comes from the collection of the Esterházy family, the largest landowners in the Kingdom of Hungary (after "Katalog der Galerie alter Meister" by Andor Pigler, Volume 1, p. 489).

If we consider the number of representations, their provenance and the oldest known locations, the woman depicted was not a simple and insignificant courtesan, as 19th-century authors wanted to see her, but the future wife of one of the most important monarchs of 16th-century Europe.

The same three protagonists as in the Hermitage painting reappear in another series of mythological compositions by Bordone depicting Venus and Cupid, Bacchus and Diana, also known as the Allegory of Spring and Autumn. The original by the Venetian master is lost, while a fine workshop copy was sold at auction in Prague in 2014 (oil on canvas, 97.5 x 142 cm, Arthouse Hejtmánek, May 22, 2014, lot 29). Another workshop copy comes from the collection of the Russian politician, courtier, and art collector Paul Viktorovich Delaroff (1852-1913), who lived in Saint Petersburg (oil on canvas, 107.9 x 160 cm, ACES Gallery in Stamford, September 29, 2024, lot 69).

There are also two reduced versions. One depicts Venus and Cupid only, the other Bacchus and Diana. The version with Venus was trimmed on the right side at an unknown date and is considered to be either the fragment of painting mentioned in 1570 in the collection of the Nuremberg merchant Willibald Imhoff (una grande tavola ... con Bacco, Diana e Venere, dipinta in Venezia da Paris Bordone) or the work mentioned in the auction of M. de Merval in Paris in May 1768, lot 5, under the title "The Seasons". Photographs of the painting before restoration still show the figure of Bacchus on the right (oil on canvas, 99.7 x 93.3 cm, Christie's New York, sale 1529, May 25, 2005, lot 21). Unlike the version with Venus, the version depicting Bacchus and Diana does not appear to have been cut from a larger painting. It is currently in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (oil on canvas, 45 x 61 cm, inv. GG 1969). This painting most likely comes from the former imperial collections and is listed in the 1868 inventory. It is known as "Nymph and Hunter". Its probable origin within the family collection of Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) justifies the identification of Diana as her disguised portrait. A virgin goddess, renowned for her purity, swiftness, and connection to nature, gazes at the viewer, while her half-brother Bacchus, god of wine, agriculture, and fertility, with the features of Sigismund Augustus, rests his hand on her shoulder (as the daughter of Anna Jagiellonica, Elizabeth was related to her husband). In larger versions, Bacchus offers Diana grapes, the principal sacred symbol of fertility and abundance. Like the painting in the Hermitage Museum, this mythological disguise also served to justify, in the public eye, the status of the king's favorite, Barbara, depicted as Venus.

Further in this context, the painter incorporated two female models from the Hermitage painting into another mythological composition, which was located before the Second World War in Dresden (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, oil on canvas, 116 x 187 cm, inv. Gal.-Nr. 204). This painting is first mentioned in an inventory of the Royal Gallery of King Augustus III of Poland in Dresden in 1754. The blonde woman in the center, Elizabeth of Austria, is again depicted as the goddess Diana, while Barbara, standing on the right, is a nymph from her entourage. Another nymph offers a stag's head to the goddess, a reference to the death of Actaeon, who was transformed into a stag by Diana. This painting is considered one of six mythological works by Bordone that adorned the home of an Augsburg art dealer named Jerominus Staininger, mentioned in 1643 (two of them are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inv. GG 69 and GG 120). It was therefore probably painted for Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg (1514-1573), Prince-Bishop of Augsburg, as Vasari states that Bordone painted "another picture for a cabinet, which is in the possession of the Cardinal of Augsburg" (un altro quadro da camera, il quale è appresso il cardinale d'Augusta). Von Waldburg, who studied in Padua and Bologna, had connections in Venice and corresponded with Aretino (after "On Meaning and Function of the Painting Apparition of the Sibyl to Emperor Augustus by Paris Bordone", p. 630). Furthermore, the figure of Mars, the god of war, in allegorical composition with Victoria, is frequently considered a portrait, perhaps of the cardinal himself. Shortly before becoming Bishop of Augsburg (June 1543) and then Cardinal (December 1544), von Waldburg served as Apostolic Nuncio to Poland (from July 29 to November 8, 1542). He maintained a close friendship with Stanisław Hozjusz, whom he met during his studies in Padua and his mission to Poland. He corresponded with Hozjusz, congratulating him in particular on his appointment to the bishopric of Warmia in 1549 (after "Podstawy prawne objęcia biskupstwa warmińskiego przez Stanisława Hozjusza" by Tadeusz Pawluk, p. 284-283).

In his portrait of 1553, considered to be a work by Lambert Sustris, like Bordone, a pupil of Titian (Zeil Castle in Leutkirch im Allgäu, oil on canvas, 99.5 x 79 cm, inv. 784, dated: M D L III), the cardinal is depicted wearing a red coat with wide sleeves and lined with dark fur, very similar to the one seen in the portrait of King Sigismund I at Wawel Castle (inv. ZKnW-PZS 3239).

Finally, around 1553 or earlier, Bordone painted a splendid allegorical portrait of the court jeweller of King Sigismund Augustus - Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio (d. 1565) of Verona in the Republic of Venice (Wawel Castle, inv. ZKnW-PZS 5882), while before 1553 (date included on the copy signed by Enea Vico), Caraglio created a print - The Dispute between the Muses and the daughters of Pierus on Parnassus, an illustration for Ovid's Metamorphoses in which all the gods present "heroic nudity" in confrontation with half-naked mortals (British Museum, inv. 1874,0808.279).

​The Challenge of the Pierides on Parnassus by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, ca. 1527-1553, British Museum.

​Portrait of Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), Duke of Florence as Orpheus by Agnolo Bronzino, ca. 1537-1539, Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Flora by Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1545, Louvre Museum in Paris. 

​Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Flora by Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1545, Reich Chancellery in Berlin, lost. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

​Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Flora by Paris Bordone or workshop, ca. 1543-1545, Private collection. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

​Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus (?) with a squirrel by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1550, Galleria Sabauda in Turin. 

​Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1550, Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome. 

​Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1550, Hearst Castle in San Simeon. 

​Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1550, Private collection. 

​Portrait of a lady, most likely Zofia Tarnowska (1534-1570), as Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist, by Flemish painter, mid-16th century, Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. 

The Temptation by a Roman painter, mid-17th century, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome.

Hypothetical reconstruction of Venus and Cupid, Bacchus and Diana with disguised portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572) and Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) by Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1551, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of Venus and Cupid, Bacchus and Diana with disguised portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572) and Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) by Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1551, lost. © Marcin Latka

Venus and Cupid, Bacchus and Diana with disguised portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572) and Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1551, Private collection (sold in Prague). 

​Venus and Cupid, Bacchus and Diana with disguised portraits of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551), Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572) and Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1551, Private collection (sold in Stamford, Connecticut). 

Portrait of Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) as Venus and Cupid by Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1551, Private collection. 

​Portrait of Sigismund Augustus (1520-1572) and Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) as Bacchus and Diana by workshop of Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1551, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. 

​Diana and her nymphs with disguised portraits of Elizabeth of Austria (1526-1545) and Barbara Radziwill (1520/23-1551) by Paris Bordone, ca. 1543-1553, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Portrait of Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg (1514-1573), Prince-Bishop of Augsburg, in Sarmatian coat lined with fur by Lambert Sustris, 1553, Zeil Castle in Leutkirch im Allgäu. 

​Although sources confirm the presence of Titian's works in Sarmatia - for example, the inventory of paintings belonging to Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliński (1595-1650) that were spared from looting by the Swedish army mentions Titian's The Sacrifice of Isaac (Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, number 1/357/0/1/7/12, p. 4) - none of the paintings imported before the Deluge (1655-1660) appear to have survived.

Of particular interest in the context of pre-Deluge imports from Venice are the paintings and artifacts preserved in the Poor Clares convent in Kraków. This monastery is one of the oldest in Poland. It was founded in 1245 by Blessed Salomea, daughter of Leszek the White and the first Polish Poor Clare. During the Deluge, the convent, like many other religious buildings in the city, was subject to destruction and looting, a common occurrence in Kraków under Swedish occupation. Sources confirm that the nuns were forced to hand over the silverware of the Jesuits, hidden in the monastery, to the soldiers of Paul Würtz (1612-1676), who also stole a gold chain with a diamond cross (after "Straty kulturalne i artystyczne Krakowa ..." by Michał Rożek, p. 147).

Among the paintings kept at the convent, the most interesting is Christ carrying the cross (oil on panel, 45.3 x 40 cm). According to the 1718 inventory, the painting was donated by Beata Myszkowska (post 1591-1666), abbess of the monastery from 1642 to 1647. Beata took her vows in 1618. She was the daughter of Zygmunt Gonzaga Myszkowski (ca. 1562-1615), advisor to King Sigismund III, who was adopted by the Gonzaga family in 1597 during his stay in Mantua. The inventory describes the painting as follows: "Roman face of the Lord Jesus with a cross painted as a very pretty portrait" (after "Pax et bonum. Skarby klarysek krakowskich. Katalog wystawy", p. 54, 60-61, 175, items III/4, III/12, III/13, IV/46).

Although this painting is considered one of the monastery's most important masterpieces, it is humbly attributed to the North Italian school of the mid-16th century. In my opinion, also considering its poor state of preservation, it is clearly a work by Titian from the early 16th century. The way the dress and the sitter's face have been painted reveals the hand of the Venetian master (visible in the old photograph of the painting held at the National Museum in Kraków, inv. MNK XX-f-1777).

It is also interesting to note that a similar and more complex composition, depicting Christ carrying the cross and meeting women, also attributed to a painter from Northern Italy, is located in the same monastery (oil on canvas, 102 x 69 cm). This painting is also attributed to Niccolò Frangipane, probably born in Padua in the Republic of Venice, and active in Venice between 1563 and 1597. According to Gian Giuseppe Liruti (1689-1780), Frangipane was a pupil of Titian. The painting is thought to have been a gift from Father Adam Opatowiusz (1574-1647), who, according to the 1718 inventory, presented the monastery with a magnificent painting of Saint Mary Magdalene, brought from Rome.

The painting donated by Myszkowska is compared to a similar composition painted by Frangipane, held at the National Museum in Warsaw (oil on canvas, 41.4 x 40 cm, inv. M.Ob.633 MNW, formerly 231149). The Warsaw painting was previously thought to be the work of a 16th-century Spanish painter and was acquired in 1962 from the collection of Helena Dowgiałło née Wagner (1879-1972). Before World War II, it was kept in an 18th-century wooden manor house in Romanishki, Belarus, along with several other Old Master paintings and a copy of Titian's Venus (after "Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej: Województwo wileńskie" by Roman Aftanazy , p. 336). The manor was destroyed during the war. 

It seems that this effigy was of particular importance to the Sarmatians of the 16th and 17th centuries, since three copies have been preserved.

A version of the composition by Frangipane, painted in 1574 and closer to the Kraków painting, is in the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga (inv. CTB.2000.43). This same composition was also copied by Bartolomeo Montagna (d. 1523), a painter who worked mainly in Vicenza, but also in Venice and Padua (Cambi Casa d'Aste in Genoa, Live Auction 727, June 15, 2022, lot 12). 

The Poor Clare convent in Kraków also houses another Venetian treasure, imported to Sarmatia, like the paintings. These are precious velvet panels interwoven with gold thread, probably dating from the period 1640-1660. They were acquired by Abbess Eufrozyna Stanisławska with her own funds, between 1639 and 1642, or between 1658 and 1661 (the dates acted as abbess of the convent). In 1718, there were 23 pieces of this fabric in the monastery. Also noteworthy is a large painting depicting Saint Anthony of Padua, painted by Kazimierz Lesiowski in 1648 (signed on the right: 1648 / prima Sept / Fr Casimi Lesiowski ...). The painting shows the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua in the background and, according to the 1718 inventory, Anna Szypowska, abbess from 1622 to 1630, ordered it to be brought from Padua. 

​Christ carrying the cross by Titian, early 16th century, Poor Clares convent in Kraków. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

​Christ carrying the cross by Niccolò Frangipane, 1570s, National Museum in Warsaw.

​Christ carrying the cross and meeting women by Niccolò Frangipane, late 16th century, Poor Clares convent in Kraków. Virtual reconstruction, © Marcin Latka

​Venetian velvet panels interwoven with gold thread, ca. 1640-1660, Poor Clares convent in Kraków.

The iconography of a monarch in the 16th century often relied on an initial portrait created by an artist close to the court, usually a drawn study, which was then reproduced on various media: paintings, miniatures, medals, and sculptures. This practice is perfectly illustrated by the portraits of one of the most influential women of the Renaissance: Joanna of Austria (1535-1573), Infanta of Spain and Princess of Portugal. Joanna was the daughter and sister of two important patrons of Titian: Emperor Charles V and King Philip II of Spain.

Around 1554, the Italian Renaissance sculptor and jeweller Jacopo da Trezzo (ca. 1515-1589), trained in Milan, who, like Jacopo Caraglio in Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia, became court jeweller working for the Spanish court, created a medal with Joanna's likeness (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 25.142.36), reminiscent of her portraits painted by the Portuguese painter Cristóvão de Morais, made around 1552 (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, inv. 1296) and by a follower of Antonis Mor, also painted around 1552 (Windsor Castle, inv. RCIN 407223), both depicting her at the age of 17 (ETATIS / XVII). The same applies to an engraving made by Pieter van der Heyden in Antwerp, very probably at the same time (Herzog August Bibliothek, inv. A 16831) and the one published in Venice in 1569 in Imagines Quorudam Principum, et Illustrium Virorum by Bolognino Zaltieri. The likeness on the 1564 medal by Giampaolo Poggini (National Gallery of Art, inv. 1998.108.16.a) and on the tondo engraving from the Teatro de las grandezas de la Villa de Madrid ... by Gil González Dávila (DOÑA IVANA DE AVSTRIA, p. 37), published in 1623, so many years after Joanna's death, resembles the portrait painted by Antonis Mor, made around 1560 (Prado Museum, inv. P002112), as well as that by Sofonisba Anguissola from the 1560s, holding a medal of her father Charles V (Dorotheum in Vienna, 12 October 2011, lot 431) and that by Alonso Sánchez Coello with a miniature of her brother Philip II (Museum of Fine Arts Bilbao, inv. 90/15). The onyx cameo with bust of the Infanta and incorrect inscription on the back identifying her as her sister Maria of Spain, carved around 1566 by Jacopo da Trezzo (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Antikensammlung, inv. XII 70), resembles her full-length portrait with a dog, painted in 1557 by Alonso Sánchez Coello (Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. GG 3127), as well as her bust portrait by Sofonisba, now in Sweden and identified as a portrait of the Swedish Queen Catherine Stenbock (Bukowskis in Stockholm, sale 621, December 11, 2019, lot 414), probably looted in Poland, and the portrait by Roland de Mois or his workshop (Royal Castle Warsaw, inv. ZKW/103/ab). The silver medal bearing Joanna's image, similar to the aforementioned cameo, attributed to Pompeo Leoni (1533-1608), is probably based on her portrait by Sánchez Coello (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Münzkabinett, inv. MK 7004bß). Her funerary sculpture in Carrara marble, in the church of the Descalzas Reales monastery in Madrid, created by Pompeo after 1574, is also likely based on Sánchez Coello's portrait. Joanna probably chose the portrait she wished to have reproduced on her cenotaph herself (after "Los retratos de Juana de Austria posteriores a 1554 ..." by Annemarie Jordan Gschwend, p. 57-58). The portrait made by Mor around 1560 depicts the Infanta with dark hair, which could indicate that she dyed her hair or that it was based on study drawings and not on observation of the actual model.

Unlike in Sarmatia, fashion in Spain, especially in the second half of the 16th century, was quite uniform, and in all the likenesses described, Joanna was portrayed in a costume typical of the Spanish fashion of the time. The diversity of costumes, combined with the significant destruction of the country's heritage, explains why no painted portraits reproducing the numerous effigies of the Jagiellonian dynasty appearing on medals, cameos, sculptures, and engravings have been preserved or are known to us. A notable exception is that of the effigies of Queen Bona created during her widowhood, when she was dressed almost exclusively in her characteristic costume. Another interesting fact is that the marble statue of the queen, from her funerary monument in the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Bari, bears little resemblance to her other surviving effigies. This suggests that another portrait of the queen was made in Italy around 1556 or 1557, shortly before her death. This statue was commissioned by her daughter, elected Queen Anna Jagiellon (1523-1596), and sculpted by Italian sculptors between 1589 and 1593, more than thirty years after Bona's death. According to a letter dated May 26, 1590, the effigy was probably based on a portrait sent by Queen Anna from Warsaw. She wrote to Tomasz Treter, canon of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, who was also a painter, engraver, and her advisor, regarding the preliminary texts for Bona's funerary inscription. The queen sent him three drafts to review and added: "We are also sending you a picture of our lady mother, which you should also send without delay [most likely to Naples, where the monument was created]" (after "Jagiellonki polskie w XVI. wieku ..." by Aleksander Przezdziecki, Volume 4, p. 325). It is unknown whether the effigy sent from Warsaw was used and, if so, which image it was precisely.

Regarding the lost painted portraits of the Jagiellons, very intersting is the mention in the posthumous inventory of the collection of Mary of Hungary (1505-1558), widow of King Louis II Jagiellon. It was drawn up in 1558 in Spain, where she moved in 1556. At the top of the list, among the portraits of the most important members of the family, is: "portrait of the King of Poland, in armor but without a helmet, painted on canvas" (number 4: En otra caja metido el retrato del rey de Polonia, armado é sin morrion, en lienzo). It was probably the likeness of Sigismund I or Sigismund Augustus. 

The painting was listed after the marble bust of Eleanor of Austria (1498-1558), sister of Charles V, by Master Jacob (Prado Museum, inv. E000259, attributed to Jacques Dubroeucq), a large canvas depicting the equestrian portrait of Charles V at Mühlberg, painted by Titian (Prado Museum, inv. P000410), and the portrait of Philip II, Mary's nephew, in half-armor, also by Titian (sent by Philip to his aunt in 1551, probably a lost copy of the painting now in the Prado Museum, inv. P000411) and before a portrait of Mary in "ordinary attire" by Titian (probably a copy or prototype of the painting in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, inv. PE 243). Like other portraits, the one of the King of Poland was recorded as packed in a box; it had therefore been transported to Spain from the Netherlands and probably came from Mary's sumptuous palace in Binche (destroyed in 1554). Unlike many other paintings mentioned in the inventory, the painter is not indicated, but this does not rule out the possibility that the work was painted by Titian or in Venice. Several other paintings mentioned in this inventory were most likely commissioned by Mary or the Habsburgs directly from Titian, while the portrait of the King of Poland was probably sent to them, hence the authorship was not so obvious.

The mentions of portraits of Christina of Denmark (1521-1590), Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, the widowed Duchess of Bavaria, probably Cunigunde of Austria (1465-1520) or Marie Jakobaea of ​​Baden-Sponheim (1507-1580), Duke Maurice of Saxony (1521-1553) in armor, Dorothea of ​​Denmark and Norway (1520-1580), Electress of the Palatinate, and of that of Anna of Austria (1528-1590), daughter of Anna Jagiellonica (1503-1547) and Duchess of Bavaria, all by Titian (items 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, after "Tableaux et sculptures de Marie d'Autriche, reine douarière de Hongrie (1558)" by Alexandre Pinchar, p. 139-140) and probably based on other effigies, are also very interesting.

The most important preserved works of art, depicting Isabella of Portugal (1503-1539), wife of Emperor Charles V and mother of King Philip II, were created several years after her death: medal by Leone Leoni, created between 1543 and 1549 (Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Münzkabinett, inv. 742bβ), portrait by Titian, painted in 1548 (Prado Museum, inv. P000415), cameo created in Milan in 1550 by Leoni (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 38.150.9), full-length portrait by the circle or a follower of Jakob Seisenegger from the third quarter of the 16th century (Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, inv. GG 3999) and double portrait with her husband by Rubens, probably painted between 1628 and 1629 (Liria Palace in Madrid, inv. P.489). All these images were therefore based on other portraits made during the empress's lifetime.

In 1532 or 1533, Titian painted the portrait of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (1511-1535) in Hungarian costume, but it is unknown whether it was created in Bologna or Venice (Pitti Palace in Florence, oil on canvas, 139 x 107 cm, inv. Palatina 201 / 1912). Ippolito, created cardinal and archbishop of Avignon by his cousin, Pope Clement VII, on January 10, 1529, at the age of 18, was sent to Hungary in the spring of 1532 as a papal legate. There he displayed considerable military skill, leading 8,000 Hungarian soldiers against the Ottoman Turks, hence his attire, which is also similar to the Sarmatian costume of the time. On July 3, 1532, Cardinal Ippolito was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church. Because of its great resemblance to a portrait by Titian, the double portrait of Marco Bracci with Cardinal Ippolito, attributed to Girolamo da Carpi, is considered not to have been painted from life, but as a copy of a portrait by Titian, concerning the features of the cardinal's face (National Gallery in London, inv. NG20). As its style indicates, the painting by Titian was executed rather quickly, and it is likely not the only copy of this portrait, as other versions were undoubtedly made for the Pope and the Emperor. A reduced copy, from the collection of the Kings of France and perhaps executed by Titian's workshop, is in the Louvre (INV 769; MR 523; MV 7390). It is mentioned at the Palace of Fontainebleau at the beginning of the 17th century.

If the portrait of the King of Poland did indeed represent Sigismund I, it could reproduce the king's features similar to those of a medal created in 1532 and signed by Giovanni Padovano (Giovanni Maria Mosca), a sculptor and medalist originally from Padua, in the Republic of Venice, active between 1515 and 1573, first in Veneto, then in Poland after 1529. Two copies of this medal, presumably given to the Este family, related to Queen Bona, are kept in the Galleria Estense in Modena (inv. R.C.G.E. 9315 and R.C.G.E. 9316). The Latin inscription on the obverse indicates that the king was depicted at the age of 64, in the 26th year of his reign, which generally corresponds to the year 1532, and designates him as the "king of Sarmatia" (Sarmatie Sigismundi Regis [...] XXVI [...] LXIII). The reverse features a Polish eagle with the royal monogram S and an inscription indicating the author and date (IOHANNES MARIA PATAVINVS · F · ANNO [...] M · D · XXXII). Also in the same collection are three other medals of Sigismund's wife, Bona, and their children, Sigismund Augustus and Isabella, also made by Padovano in 1532. The medal of Sigismund Augustus depicts him at the age of 13 and in the third year of his reign, which is inaccurate, and bears the letter D added before his name, derived from divus ("divine"); the reverse depicts a lion (inv. R.C.G.E. 9317). Isabella's medal depicts her wearing a wreath and at the age of 14, which is inaccurate, and with a rounded neckline typical of Sarmatian fashion of the time; the reverse features an allegory of Modesty represented as a semi-nude woman with an ermine (inv. R.C.G.E. 9313). The medal with Bona's bust shows the queen in Sarmatian costume with a wide, rounded neckline, similar to that of the funerary sculpture of Maryna Sobkowa (d. 1530) in Opatów. The inscription states that she was 32 years old, which is incorrect, as she was 38 at that time, and this may be a deliberate action. The artichoke on the reverse is a symbol of fertility. A similar costume, with white puffed sleeves, appears in the profile portrait of a blonde noblewoman from a Florentine private collection (oil on canvas, 99.5 x 69 cm, Pandolfini Casa d'Aste, Live auction 1114, March 1, 2022, lot 66). This outfit is very similar to the one in the portrait of Queen Catherine of Austria (1533-1572), the third wife of Sigismund II Augustus, in an engraving made before 1562 by Frans Huys in Antwerp (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. RP-P-1892-A-17332). The inscription in the upper left reads: LA[V] FAG., DE , CAR. The comma suggests that it is most likely an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Labora Fac Gradatim De Cetero, which could be translated as "Work and act step by step from now on". This phrase encourages consistent and regular progress in one's efforts, while the woman's gesture, her right hand on her heart, indicates that this is her life motto. The woman's headdress adorned with pearls and her profile, as well as her body turned towards the viewer, are reminiscent of those in Queen Bona's medal kept at the Galleria Estense (inv. R.C.G.E. 9502). The facial features and hairstyle are also similar. This portrait of the Queen of Poland is particularly close to that of her mother, Isabella of Aragon (1470-1524), Duchess of Milan, with blonde hair, from the Rothschild collection (Christie's London, Online Auction 19640, July 30, 2020, lot 6, indistinct inscription: ISABELLA / SFORZAAL / LAS.DVCHESSA / DICASTRO). The style of the painting is similar to that of the Milanese painter Gaudenzio Ferrari (ca. 1471-1546), for example, his Virgin and Child in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan (inv. 1157), which also depicts a similar woman. This latter painting is dated to around 1517-1518; who knows, perhaps the painter was inspired by the features of the Milanese-Aragonese princess.

According to Mateusz Grzęda, Padovano is probably the creator of the final medals and sculptures appearing on the reverse, while the bust of the king, his wife and children should be attributed to Christoph Weiditz (1498-1559), active in Satrasburg and Augsburg. Between 1528 and 1529, Weiditz traveled to Spain. From 1529 to 1531, he produced medals bearing the likeness of Jan Dantyszek (1485-1548), Bishop of Chełmno and envoy to the imperial court. In 1531, Dantyszek was in Brussels. In a letter to the envoy dated March 6, 1531, Christoph Mülich, an Augsburg merchant in the service of the Fugger family, refers to Weiditz as Dantyszek's "servant". Around that time, in 1531, Weiditz produced a medal with the effigy of Francisco de los Cobos (circa 1477-1547), Secretary of State to Charles V and important patron of the arts, whose portrait was painted by Jan Gossaert (Getty Center). Cobos arranged portraits of Emperor Charles V and owned works by Titian, such as the portrait of his mistress Cornelia Malaspina, commissioned by Federico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. 

Padovano probably received models made by Weiditz based on painted effigies of the Sarmatian royal family, and the whole commission was likely orchestrated by Dantyszek (after "Kilka uwag o medalach portretowych Zygmunta I Starego", p. 9-18, 21). The Bishop of Chełmno, known as Juan Dantisco in Spanish sources, is the author of a voluminous correspondence containing references to portraits, such as the one he sent in 1529 to Isabel Delgada, a woman from Valladolid with whom he had a daughter in 1527, Juana Dantisco, or the portrait of Juana painted in Valladolid in 1539 on the instructions of Johan Weze (1490-1548), Archbishop of Lund, by a German painter and royal guard (un pintor alemán y Guardia de Corps de S.M.), identified as Jacob Seisenegger (after "The Spanish Portrait: From El Greco to Picasso" by Javier Portús Pérez, p. 78). 

If the prestigious commission for painted portraits of the Sarmatian royal family was entrusted to Titian in Venice, they were probably based on study drawings sent to Venice and resembled the Przybyła portrait created around that time or in the late 1520s (the models are depicted in profile, their bodies turned towards the viewer, as on medals).

Another beautiful medal bearing the image of Sigismund I, decorated with the Order of the Golden Fleece of the Habsburgs and whose lower lip, inherited from his Habsburg mother, is highlighted, is, according to Mr. Grzęda, the work of another medalist connected to the imperial court, Matthes Gebel (ca. 1500-1574). A citizen of Nuremberg, he attended the imperial diets of Speyer in 1529 and Augsburg in 1530, where he probably created the medal bearing the image of Charles V at the age of 30 (Victoria & Albert Museum, inv. A.384-1910). The medal of Sigismund, kept at the Ossolineum in Wrocław, is also attributed to Caraglio and is considered to have been created in Venice shortly before his arrival in Poland, as it bears the date 1538. The similarity of this work to the 1535 medal of Louis X (1495-1545), Duke of Bavaria, by Gebel, is particularly striking. The medal was probably made to commemorate the betrothal of Sigismund Augustus and Elizabeth of Austria, celebrated on June 16 of that year. The medal was distributed to guests at their wedding in 1543, and its gold copies came from Elizabeth's dowry. A work signed by Caraglio, which could be dated to the same period as the 1538 medal of Sigismund, is a cameo with bust of Bona preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 17.190.869, signed under the shoulder: IACOBV/VERON), as indicated by her costume. The cameo is inlaid with gold, highlighting the details of queen's chain and hairnet, while the details of her costume are meticulously crafted. The most distinctive element of this costume is the silver Medusa's head inset on her breast. The mythological Medusa symbolizes feminine power, seduction, and protection, often perceived as a fierce guardian against evil. It thus evokes "a manifestation of strength, tenacity, and effectiveness - exercised by the weapon", as Katarzyna Kluczwajd notes in her commentary on the cameo. The author adds that "the Bona jewel is a unique representation, taken 'from the point of view' of a male portrait (facing right). This underlines its independent and solitary significance, important from a propaganda standpoint for this power-hungry Italian woman, who [later] sought Philip II to grant her the rule in the Kingdom of Naples" (after "Biżuteria w Polsce ...", p. 30). 

The two effigies, that from the 1538 medal and that from the cameo by Caraglio, were very likely inspired by painted portraits, perhaps by Titian, painter to the Habsburg dynasty (in 1531, the painter moved to a substantial palatial house in Venice and, in 1532, went to Bologna to paint the emperor, who, the following year, appointed him court painter and raised him to the rank of Count Palatine; according to known sources, in the late 1530s he was active mainly in Venice), or by Paris Bordone, the artist who painted Caraglio's portrait (in 1538, according to Vasari, or 1559, according to Federici, he was invited to work at the court of king of France). Given its crucial political significance, Bona's effigy with Medusa's head must have been reproduced in numerous forms, such as the cameo depicting the bust of Joanna of Austria. The involvement of artists such as Giovanni Cariani or Bernardino Licinio, who, according to my findings, painted images of the queen, is also conceivable.

​Portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by workshop of Gaudenzio Ferrari, 1520s, Private collection. 

​Main objects from the collection of Mary of Hungary (1505-1558) in 1558 (items 1 to 5 of the inventory).

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) in armor by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572) in a hat by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Crown Princess Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559) in Sarmatian costume by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Crown Princess Isabella Jagiellon (1519-1559) in Sarmatian costume by Titian, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) in Sarmatian costume by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1532, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) with the Order of the Golden Fleece by Paris Bordone, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Paris Bordone, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Titian, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Giovanni Cariani, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the portrait of Queen Bona Sforza d'Aragona (1494-1557) with silver Medusa's head by Bernardino Licinio, ca. 1538, lost. © Marcin Latka

Portrait of Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (1511-1535) in Hungarian costume by Titian, ca. 1532-1533, Pitti Palace in Florence.