Home World U.S. Weather Sports Business Sci-Tech Showbiz Lifestyle alt On Target Search Help Feedback Log Out Apr. 2, 1999 >> 9:42 pm EST Witold Karwowski's Europe:Poland First-Time Exhibit Celebrates Poland's Golden Age Reuters 01-APR-99 BALTIMORE (Reuters) - As moviegoers relive England's golden age under Elizabeth I, the museum world is celebrating Poland's golden age with an exhibition that includes treasures stolen by the Nazis or hidden behind the Iron Curtain after 1944. "Land of the Winged Horsemen: Art in Poland, 1572-1764," offers a glimpse into a virtually forgotten period when the arts in Poland flourished as religious tolerance attracted foreigners persecuted in their own countries and military might helped make Poland the largest nation in Europe. "I was stunned that this thrilling and pivotal chapter of European history had been silenced for so long," said Ellen Reeder, curator of Ancient Art at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, where the traveling exhibition opened this month. Because of Cold War-era policies that isolated Eastern Europe from the West, Poland and its rich culture have remained a "gray blur" for most people, Reeder said. "The country was so isolated, the publications weren't there, there were simply no really good images of Poland in film or television. What's remarkable is that this isolation has continued even now that the Iron Curtain is gone." The "Winged Horsemen" exhibition is an attempt to remove Poland from what Reeder called "the map of forgetting." It includes 150 works gathered from 35 Polish museums by Wawel Royal Castle Director Jan Ostrowski, Warsaw Royal Castle Director Andrzej Rottermund and Poland's "cultural ambassador at large" Count Andrew Ciechanowiecki. Some of the pieces are on view for the first time since undergoing extensive conservation work and most are being seen for the first time outside Poland. EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS POLAND'S MILITARY Among the most fascinating objects in the exhibition are the crown, scepter and orb from the coronation of Augustus III in 1733. The pieces illustrate not only the artistry of Polish jewelers but the tortured history of Poland's recent past. The heavily jeweled objects, including emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds borrowed from the Dresden crown jewels, were stolen by the Nazis and taken to Germany. Then they were stolen by the Red Army and held in the Soviet Union until 1960, when they were returned to the National Museum in Warsaw. The 20th-century pillage of Poland's treasures is a far cry from the country's more distant past. Through much of the 16th to 18th centuries, the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania constituted the largest land empire in Europe, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. As the easternmost extension of the Roman Catholic Church, Poland was considered the "Defender of the Faith" against the Ottoman Empire. Poles under King John Sobieski III defeated the Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna, the most important in pre-Medieval Europe. A linen tent captured in that decisive campaign is on display in the "Winged Horsemen" exhibition, as is weaponry from Sobieski's fighters including armor worn by the husaria heavy cavalry from which the exhibition gets its name. The husaria wore massive backplates of eagle wings that resembled feathered headdresses worn by American Indians. As the "winged horsemen" charged into battle, their headdresses vibrated to produce a sound that terrified their enemy. ARTISTS DRAWN BY POLISH RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE Artists took refuge in Poland during its golden age, attracted by its stability ensured by a fierce military and its religious tolerance, which was decreed by law. In 1573, the Confederation of Warsaw stated that no one could be persecuted for their religious beliefs. As a result, Poland became a haven for persecuted people and the largest refuge for European Jewry. And that same year Poland held its first free election to select a king, ushering in a long reign of monarchs who were subject to the vote. A magnificent painting in the form of a frieze, "Entry of the Wedding Procession of Constance of Austria and Sigismund III into Cracow," known as the "Stockholm Roll" because it was held in Sweden until 1974, was painted by an anonymous artist around 1605, at the height of Poland's royal court splendor. "The moment the marriage of the king of Poland is taking place is the same time Shakespeare is writing at the Globe Theater," Reeder said. "It was a time of great excitement and great energy." Paintings, ceramics, glass and textiles illustrate the influence of both the East and West on Poland's cultural life as artists created local schools that flourished under the patronage of fabulously wealthy families -- the Czartoryskis, Ossolinskis, Radziwells, Lubomirskis and Potockis. When asked if the Radziwell family lived like royalty, one member once said, "I live like a Radziwell, the king can do as he pleases." Examples of the works the magnate families commissioned show the sophistication of the artists and provide windows into the world of the Polish aristocracy. A silver spoon on display was an example of the type of implement every Polish nobleman carried in his boot as a sign of wealth. An ornate nine-piece silver coffee set, in the show and featured in the painting, "A Coffee Table Scene" by Johann Samuel Mock, is an example of the aristocracy's delight in coffee drinking after the confiscation of a coffee cache from the Turks during the Battle of Vienna. An enigmatic portrait of Countess Anna Orzelska, the illegitimate daughter of King Augustus II, is an example of Poland's liberal stance on women's rights. Orzelska, who under Polish law had the same rights of inheritance as her brother, used her wealth to support the arts. CENTERPIECE OF EXHIBIT IS MIRACULOUS IMAGE OF VIRGIN The importance of religion in the lives of Poles in the 16th to 18th centuries is evident in works throughout the exhibition. But the centerpiece of the show is a religious artifact that many claim has miraculous powers. A 15th-century painting of "Our Lady of Czestochowa" was slashed by thieves in a failed robbery attempt and the portrait was said to bleed from the cuts. A 17th-century copy of the painting has also been designated as miraculous and has been the object of pilgrimages to Lvov, where it was previously located, and to Cracow, where it now hangs in the Carmelite Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The copy, which includes the marks the robbers' knives made on the 15th-century original, is on view in "Winged Horsemen" -- its first showing since an extensive conservation project and the first showing ever outside Poland. The exhibition remains at the Walters in Baltimore until May 9 before traveling to the Art Institute of Chicago (June 5 to Sept. 6); the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama (Sept. 25 to Nov. 28); the San Diego Museum of Art in California (Dec. 18 to Feb. 27); and the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma (March 26 to June 18). It ends in Warsaw next year at the newly restored Royal Castle, which was destroyed during World War II. 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