Jerzy Holc, Andrzej Włochowicz* The Arrases of Wawel, the Polish Royal in Krakow Wawel - Polisch Royal Castle Conservation Workshop of Historical Textiles Wawel, Kraków, Abstract The unusual, but well-documented history of the unique collection of the ‘Arrases of *University of Bielsko-Biała Wawel’, the Polish kings’ castle in Krakow, is briefly presented and its cultural importance Faculty of Textile Engineering and Polymer Materials emphasised. The problems of maintaining, preserving and restoring historical textile fabrics Ul. Willowa 2, 403-39 Bielsko-Biała, Poland are mentioned, and the questions of biodeterioration, molecular and submolecular structure E-mail: [email protected] changes, de-colouration, and the appearance of stains are stressed. A further article, which will discuss these problems in detail, will be published in a subsequent issue of Fibres & Textiles in Eastern . Key words: arras, tapestry, conservation, preservation, biodeterioration, micro-organisms, enzymes, structure changes, colour changes.

n The history of the collection n 16 small arrases located over the entrances and above & below the The Wawel arrases1), which are also windows, as well as those intended to called the Jagiellonian arrases, form a cover chairs or pillows. compact and stylistically consistent col- lection of .2) Krakow’s arras The tapestries were manufactured in the collection is distinctive as regards its period from 1550 to 1560 in , uniformity of style, variety of series, and according to cartoons of famous Flemish abundance of motives, as well as its his- painters. The authorship of these car- torical substantiation, which is of greatest toons with figurative scenes is attributed importance. In the second half of the 16th to Michel Coxcien (1499-1592), known century, the Polish king Sigismund the II as the ‘Raphael of the North’, that of the (Zygmunt II August), the last verdure tapestries to an anonymous Ant- male descendent of the Jagiellonian dy- werp artist from the circle of P. Coecke nasty, bought 170 arrases for the interior van Aalst 1556), and that of the gro- decoration of royal and palaces; tesques and bordures to a Flemish artist 142 tapestries from this collection have from the circles of Cornelis Floris (1514- remained up to the present. The arras 1575) & Cornelis Bos (1506 or 1510- collection made up the majority of the 1556). The tapestries were woven in the furnishing of the ,3) which Brussels weaving workshops of Pieter is well thought out as a complete decora- van Aelst the Younger, Willem and Jan tion of its rooms. At present, the arrases de Kempener, Jan van Tieghem, Nicolas

FIBRE AND TEXTILE ART from this collection are the only original Leyniers, and other Flemish weavers, remains of the castle’s furnishings from who all worked to the orders of contem- the times of King Sigismund Augustus. porary emperors, kings, and .

The collection of the Wawel arrases in The tapestries called arrases (so-called Krakow includes the following items after the town of Arras in France), had [1, 2]: already been imported to Poland by the n 19 monumental figurative arrases Polish king (Zyg- with scenes inspired by the book of munt I Stary), the father of King Sigis- Genesis in three thematically series: mund Augustus, from the Flemish city of the ‘History of the first parents’, the Antwerp, among other locations. ‘History of Noah’, and the ‘History of construction of the Tower of Babel’. The first order of 16 artistic textiles was n 44 verdure tapestries with landscapes placed in Brussels by Sigismund II Au- and animal sceneries, unusually gustus in 1523, and was not accidental. unique tapestries which are not found The king précised not only the themes, among even the greatest world collec- but also the dimensions of the ordered tions. Different animals which live tapestries. The tapestries were to be ar- in their own worlds, full of abundant ranged in distinct thematic cycles, and vegetation, are presented against the shapes and dimensions were selected beautiful backgrounds. according to particular walls in the royal n 12 heraldry and monogram arrases with rooms. Some of them were unusually the coats of arms of Poland and Lithua- large, reaching 9m in width and 5m in nia (Figure 1), as well as the mono- height. All the tapestries were manufac- gram ‘S.A.’ (Sigismund Augustus). tured according to the king’s instruction.

FIBRES & TEXTILES in January / December 2005, Vol. 13, No. 6 (54) 85 The arrases did not decorate the rooms of ‘ treasure’. In 1573 the ‘Bible ferred to the ‘Palace of the Republic’ (the the royal castle all the time. After being arrases’ (19 items) and various smaller Krasiński palace) which is also located in delivered to the Wawel castle, the valu- arrases were lent to the Crown with Anna . able tapestries were also occasionally Jagiellonka’s permission with the aim used to decorate various interiors during of decorating the Wawel castle for the In 1795, after the the Polish kingdom lost court and state ceremonies, including the of Henry de Valois. Then, the its independence, the arrases were taken wedding ceremony of Sigismund Augus- Polish king (as of 1576) Stefan Bathory out of the country to on the order tus and Catherine of Austria in 1553, the received the arrases himself, together of the Russian tsarina (empress) Cath- coronation of Henry de Valois as Polish with other treasures from the castle of erine II. From 1860 they decorated the king in 1574, the wedding ceremony of Tykocin, but after ten years he returned emperor’s palaces in the neighbourhood Sigismund III Vasa (Zygmunt III Waza) them to the Republic, according to the of St. Petersburg. Not until the end of the to Anne of Austria in 1592, the corona- will of Sigismund II Augustus [4,5]. First World War and the Polish-Soviet tion of Cecile Renate of Austria, the War, which Poland won, were the arrases wife of the Polish king Władysław IV In 1578 a series of 30 arrases, including returned over the years 1921 to 1926, on Vasa (Waza) in 1637, the wedding cer- the arrases of the ‘History of the first the basis of the treaty signed between Po- emony of King Michał Wiśniowiecki to parents’, together with the landscape, land and Soviet Russia in Riga in 1921. Eleonora of Habsburg in 1670, and the animal, and heraldic arrases, were sent coronation as king of Stanisław August to for Catherine, Queen of The beautiful tapestries returned to their Poniatowski in 1764 [3]. . These tapestries also returned to primary destination, but did not decorate Poland after ten years, while Sigismund the rooms of the castle for very long. According to the decision taken by III, the son of Catherine, and the nephew In 1939, at the beginning of the Second King Sigismund II Augustus in 1571, of the last Jagellonian male descendant, World War, in justified fear that the Ger- as expressed in his will, the whole was elected as king of Poland. man invaders would steal the arrases, the collection of the arrases was to have tapestries were protected in special con- been inherited by his three sisters: Sigismund III regarded all the arrases tainersand removed, firstly to Romania. Sophia, Duchess of Brunswick, Queen and other tapestries as his private prop- As military action spread across Europe, Catherine of Sweden, and Anna (Anna erty, and in his will divided all these the arrases were taken to France, Eng- Jagiellonka), Queen of Poland (since items between his sons. Sigismund’s land, and finally to Canada. Since 1945 1575) and wife (since 1576) of Stefan collection was inherited by the Polish the Polish state made persistent efforts Bathory, the then King of Poland. How- king Władysław IV, and after his death to recover all the arrases, and at last they ever, the will included a very important in 1648, by his younger brother John returned to Poland on 16 January 1961. historical annotation, which was deci- Casimir (Jan ), who was also One argument for the recovery of the ar- sive in the further history of the Wawel crowned king of Poland. rases – an argument which would be im- collection. In loose translation (origi- portant for Canada, who feared that the nally written in 16th-century Polish) The Wawel arrases became the object valuable tapestries would be taken by the the sentence is as follows: “And if, as of arguments during John Casimir’s Soviets – was the unprecedented legacy no one will be overlooked by death, all session, which took place in in Sigismund II August’s will written in three of our sisters, their royal high- the lower chamber of the Polish parlia- the 16th century in which the king gave nesses, will nolonger be alive (although ment (the ) in September 1668. The his “Flemish curtains with gold” to the I beg You, o Lord, to lengthen their outgoing king demanded a life pension, Polish nation. Since this moment, and lives) then all the legacy of the royal claiming that the arrases inherited from up to today, the Jagiellonian arrases have highnesses should be bequeathed to his ancestors were his property, whereas the Polish Crown and the Duchy of the members of parliament had their own again adorned the rooms of the Wawel considered as one Republic4), different opinion, and proved that the ar- castle. but only for common use, and not for rases were the property of the ‘Republic individual use, and for common decora- of the Two Nations’ and must be returned n Maintenance, conservation, tion, as will be necessary and honest.” to the Crown. Nine months after the ab- and preservation For a king to hand down his private dication of King John Casimir, an act of of the arrases possession to the state (the Republic pledge for the arrases was written, secur- of the Two Nations) was an unusual act ing a long-term loan to the ex-king pro- The collection of the Wawel arrases is a in these times, as the notion of national vided by Franciscus Gratta, a patrician Polish national treasure, which is main- property did not exist. of Gdańsk. At that time, the inventory tained and restored with great care by the included 156 items of tapestries. staff of the castle’s conservation studio. After the death of King Sigismund II From time to time, the tapestries are Augustus in 1575, the arras collection, In 1724, during the rule of the Polish king thoroughly cleaned, and some of them which represented huge wealth, was Augustus II of Saxony (August II Sas), are even washed. Not all are exposed at deposited and protected in the castle of the lower chamber of the Polish parlia- the same time, in order to minimise the Tykocin. At that time, the collection be- ment bought back part of the pledged adverse influence of light and dust. The came the object of horse-trading between tapestries from the burghers of Gdańsk. exposition is changed every few years, Anna Jagiellonka, who undertook the ef- In contrast to the past, the arrases were and considering the conservation con- forts in her own name, and in the name of stored in the Carmelite monastery in ditions, no more than between ten and her sisters and the Crown Council, who Warsaw, and not in the Wawel castle. twenty of these most valuable tapestries raised the rights of the Republic to the After 60 years, the tapestries were trans- are exposed.

86 FIBRES & TEXTILES in Eastern Europe January / December 2005, Vol. 13, No. 6 (54) FIBRES & TEXTILES in Eastern Europe January / December 2005, Vol. 13, No. 6 (54) 87 Figure 1. Arras with the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania and the Figure of Ceres; Brussels, circa 1555; woven with woollen, silk, gold, and silver therads; dimensions 166 × 413 cm.

Antique textile fabrics, including archae- their strength properties, and as a result animal motives, and the Korczak coat ological fabrics, were manufactured from of the changes in submolecular structure of arms. natural fibres, and so they are susceptible and morphology, often by stains and 3) Wawel, the royal castle of the Polish to biodeterioration. The growth of mi- changes in colour [7]. These latter mostly kings, built in the 10th century; at present, cro-organisms on textile fabrics, and the appear as the effect of influence of exo- the main part with the royal rooms is a deterioration related to them, depends on pigments, which are secreted by the cells castle. the type of fibre and environment factors. and diffused to the substrate. The exo- 4) The Polish state, the kingdom of Poland, The biodeterioration of the arrases is pigments are dyes of different chemical was from the 15th century known as the caused by enzymes secreted by micro- structures, which among others include ‘ Obojga Narodów’ (the organisms, especially by fungi. Changes the anthraquinone and carotene groups. Republic of Two Nations), and consisted to the morphological fibre’s structure, the Melanin, which is created in shreds of of the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy decomposition of its molecular and sub- fungi, is also a pigment which often of Lithuania. molecular structure, and changes in col- appears, dyeing the textiles deep shades our may reveal the deterioration. These and dark colours. Stains of various col- are the reasons why the conservation of ourations may also appear as the result Acknowledgment historical tapestries and their preserva- of chemical reactions between the cell’s tion against biodeterioration caused by metabolites and the compounds included This work was sponsored by the Polish Com- mittee of Scientific Research within the frame fungi and bacteria are a very important in the textile’s material. the research project No. 4 T08E 047 22. matter. The control of the environment (temperature, humidity, dust, and vari- The problems of the deterioration of the ous chemical pollutions in the air) is the Wawel arrases, and their preservation most common method of preserving the against the harmful activity of the envi- References arrases; an auxiliary method is the use of ronment, as well as bacterial and fungal 1. M. Hannel-Bernosikowa „Arrasy Zyg- biocides. micro-flora, will be the subject of a paper munta Augusta”, Zamek Królewski na published in a subsequent issue of Fibres Wawelu, Kraków 1998. Textile fabrics manufactured from & Textiles in Eastern Europe. 2. M. Morelowski „Prace Komisji Historii natural fibres, including plant and animal Sztuki, 3 (1923), 3-24. fibres are attacked and decomposed by 3. M. Gębarowicz, T. Mańkowski „Roczniki Krakowskie”, 29 (1937). micro-organisms [6]. Each type of fibre Editorial notes: 4. S.E. Naklik „Studia do Dziejów Wawelu”, is attacked by specific micro-organisms, 4, 361 (1978). which have the ability to decompose the 1) The term ‘arrases’ is generally used to 5. J. Szabłowski „Arrasy flamandzkie main fibre’s component: cellulose in the refer to rich tapestries woven with the use w Zamku Królewskim na Wawelu”, case of plant fibres, keratin in wool, and of golden threads (from Arras, a town in Warszawa-Antwerpia 1975. fibroin in silk. Independently, micro-or- north-eastern France famous for these 6. B. Błyskal; Ph. D. thesis, Academy of ganisms appear and grow on the surface fabrics). Economics, Kraków 2005. of textile fabrics; these gain sustenance 2) The so-called ‘Throne arras’, a gift made 7. Report of investication carried out within from other carbon sources than the tex- in 1560 by Christopher Krupski, the the research project No. 4 T08E 047 22, starosta (district authority) of Horodło to tile’s component materials, such as dirt sponsored by the Polish Committee of Sigismund Augustus, is also connected Scientific Research. for example. The destruction of textiles to this collection; this arras presents the attacked by micro-organisms is also ‘White Eagle’, the Polish coat of arms, manifested by a significant decrease of surrounded by rich floral, figurative, and Received 02.06.2005 Reviewed 22.12.2005

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