. Woodcut illustration to Qvincvnx, tho iest wzor Korony Polskiey ('Quincunx, or the Crown of Poland'), a political treatise by Stanisław Orzechowski published in Kraków in 1564. It is an allegorical representation of the political structure of the Kingdom of Poland. In the middle, beneath a crucifix, a female personification of Poland is standing on the shoulders of a pope and a king kneeling below. The woman, wearing a closed crown on her free-flowing hair, is holding a small altar in her hands. Below the altar is the crowned White Eagle of the coat of arms of Poland, intertwined with the th
. Woodcut illustration to Qvincvnx, tho iest wzor Korony Polskiey ('Quincunx, or the Crown of Poland'), a political treatise by Stanisław Orzechowski published in Kraków in 1564. It is an allegorical representation of the political structure of the Kingdom of Poland. In the middle, beneath a crucifix, a female personification of Poland is standing on the shoulders of a pope and a king kneeling below. The woman, wearing a closed crown on her free-flowing hair, is holding a small altar in her hands. Below the altar is the crowned White Eagle of the coat of arms of Poland, intertwined with the the letters SA, the royal monogram of King Sigismund Augustus of Poland. The pope is dressed in pontifical vestments, wearing a papal tiara on his head and holding a straight crozier ending with a patriarchal cross in his right hand. Opposite him there is the king of Poland, wearing an armor and a closed crown, and holding a sword in his left hand. Between the two men stands an altar on top of which there is a chalice and a missal open on an illustration of the Crucifixion. The entire composition is framed by two pairs of columns supporting a canopy. Above the female figure hangs an unfurled ribbon with the inscription: Quincunx Polonia. Below, on both sides of the personification, a Latin inscription explains the sense of the image: Papae ac regis humerix nixa, cuius quodvis latus si offe[n]deris, totam regni structura[m] dissolveris ('The Quincunx of Poland rests on the shoulders of the pope and the king; if you damage one of its sides, you destroy the whole structure of the kingdom.'). The words of Psalm 43 are written above the heads of the pope and the king: Et introibo ad altere Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem mea[m]. ('Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy.'). Source: Rokosz, Mieczysław , ed. (1996) Orły nasze: Orzeł Biały w zbiorach Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej. Our Eagles: The White Eagle in the Collections of the Jagiellonian Library
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Photo credit: © The Picture Art Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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