The Crucified Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments. Patterns of Reception of a...

Artistic Translations between four teenth and sixteenth centuries

international seminar for young researchers. Proceedings

Institute of Art History

University of Warsaw

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The Crucified Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments. Patterns of

Reception of a Sixteenth-Century Image on Both Sides of the Alps and on

Both Sides of the Atlantic Ocean

During the Early Modern Period, printed images played a vital role in a process of dissemination of designs. Numerous paintings had been inspired by entire cycles, single compositions, or various motifs taken from prints published in Antwerp, Rome or Venice. !e printed image reached across the world to distant and exotic places. To give one example, Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia by Jerónimo Nadal circulated in Armenia," China# and America.$ In the New World existed even earlier instances of Italian prints’ reception. Among them particular attention should be drawn to the composition showing the Cruci%ed Christ as the source of the seven sacraments.

!is iconographic type, in the lower section, shows a group of believers gathered around a baptismal font to witness the sacrament of the baptism. From the font stems a tree trunk with three branches. !e middle branch forms the vertical beam of the cross, on which Christ’s body is hanged, above it are the dove of the Holy

" S. Eftekharian [S. Laporte], ‘Le rayonnement international des gravueres Flamandes aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles: Les peintures murales fes églises Sainte-Behtléem et Saint-Saveur à la Nouvelle-Djoulfa (Ispahan)’, Ph.D. thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles, #&&'/#&&(.# J. M. Shin, ‘!e Reception of Evangelicae Historiae Imagines in Late Ming China: Visualizing Holy Topography in Jesuit Spirituality and Pure Land Buddhism’, Sixteenth Century Journal, )&/#, #&&*, pp. $&$-$$$; J. E. Borao Mateo, ‘La versión china de la obra ilustrada de Jerónimo Nadal Evangelicae Historiae Imagines’, Goya. Revista de arte, $$&, #&"&, pp. "(-$$.$ M. C. García Sáiz, ‘Las Imágenes de la Historia Evangélica del P. Jerónimo Nadal y la pintura en Ayacucho (Perú)’, Cuadernos de Arte Colonial, ), "*++, pp. )$-((; L. E. Alcalá, ‘Las imágenes de Jerónimo Nadal y un retablo novohispano’, Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, "(, "**$, pp. ),-''; A. Robin, ‘El retablo de Xaltocán: Las Imágenes de Jerónimo Nadal y la monja Ágreda’, Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, #+, #&&(, pp. '$-,&.

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Spirit and the bust of God the Father appearing from the clouds. On ends of the two side branches, there are three towering medallions with depictions of the remaining six sacraments. Previous scholars commonly asserted that this type was developed by three Venetian prints, with an inscription at the top MISIT VERBVM SVVM ET SANAVIT EOS PS CVI.) Arguably the earliest from this group is an engraving by Luca Bertelli (LVCA BERTELLI) after Bartolomeo Lulmo called da Brescia (BERTO LVLMO FE !"#$; Cracow, the Jagiellonian Library, Collection of Jan Pon-towski, box ")*; Real.Biblioteca de San Lorenzo de El Escorial [hereafter: Escorial], #+-I-", fol. )+; )",( x $#,+ cm and )&,( x $",( cm; %g. "). Almost an identical version, also dated to "'(*, is signed Ant. Pin Argenti exc MDLXVIIII Nicolai Nelli formis Venetiis (Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, inventory number HB#)*,'; Esco-rial, #+-I-", fol. "&&, )&,' x $",, cm). !e third version, undated and signi%cantly smaller than the previous two, was published by Domenico Zenoi, active in Venice between "'(& and "'+& (Escorial, #+-II-+, fol. "'+, #),', "*,* cm).

Since the "',&s, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, appeared artworks with utterly akin composition and meaning. In Italy, from "',', similar woodcuts were included in consecutive editions of the Catechism of Trent.' Meanwhile, in Mexico already in the sixteenth century, existed two paintings based on this composition: in the portico of Augustinian Convent in Metztitlán, Hidalgo (around "',,, in a fragmentary state; %g. #) and in St Francis Church in Mazapa (generally dated to

) A. Casanovas, ‘Catálogo de la colección de grabados de la Biblioteca de el Escorial’, part I: Catalogo, Anales y boletín de los Museos de Arte de Barcelona, "(, "*($-"*(), p. "', %g. (; Real colección de estampas de El Escorial, ed. J. M. González de Zarate, vol. II, Vitoria-Gasteiz, "**$, p. +'; E.-M. Bangerter-Schmid, Erbauliche illustrierte Flugblätter aus den Jahren !"%&-!#%&, Frankfurt am Main "*+(, no. *), p. #)(. ' Catechismus ex Decreto Concilii Tridentini ad Parochos, Venice, Aldo Manucio, "',' and "'+# (G. Palumbo, Speculum peccatorum. Frammenti di storia nello specchio delle immagini tra Cinque e Seicento, Naples "**&, %gs "&'-"&(); Concilium Tridentinum sub Paulo III, Iulio III et Pio IV, Venice, Andrea Muschio "'+' (L. Báez Rubi, Mnemosine novohispánica: retórica e imágenes en el siglo XVI, Mexico #&&', %g. #$, p. $""; there mentioned is also an anonymous print from the Warburg Institute‘s collection); a similar illustration in edition of Catechismus Romanus published in Bassano in ",#+ is mentioned by S. Gieben in his Christian Sacrament and Devotion, Leiden "*+&, p. '.

The Crucified Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments 189

the sixteenth century).( In turn, from the beginning of the seventeenth century, on both sides of the Alps, various works of art which derived from the discussed icono-graphic type introduced signi%cant additions or alterations to that original design. In Italy an example of this practice is a painting commissioned in "(&$ by Francesco Tartaglia for the parish church of St Elijah in Sant’Elia a Piansi from Girolamo Imperato (%g. $), in which the scene of the baptism is rendered di/erently than in prints. !e cross is 0anked by the standing Virgin Mary and St John, while in the bottom left corner, a seascape with %gures of drowning heretics was added., North of the Alps one testimony of such selective inspiration with the printed composi-tion is an engraving entitled Typus utriusque s. legis by Hieronymus Wierix from "(&, (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art; London, British Museum and Royal Collection Trust; %g. )),+ where above the cruci%x stemming from a large bunch of grapes carried by two men (depicted following the Romanesque iconography of the two Israelites returning from Canaan) is the dove of the Holy Spirit and the bust of God the Father. On the sides of the cross there are personi%cations of Lex Vetus and Lex Nova, while in the corners are depicted four medallions with scenes of the Circumcision and Moses receiving the Tablets of Law, on the left, and the Baptism of Christ and the Pentecost, on the right. !e central part of this composition became

( S. Sebastián, ‘In0uencia de Bartolommeo da Brescia en México’, Churubusco, "*,,, pp. '*-(); S. Sebastián, Contrare'orma y barroco. Lecturas iconográ(cas e iconológicas, Madrid "*+", pp. "'&-"'#; N. Sigaut, ‘El árbol de la vida en el convento de Metztitlán’, Relaciones, Estudios de Historia y Sociedad, "#, "**", pp. ,-#+; A. Loda, ‘Il Sangue del Redentore. Testimonianze %gurative eucaristico-sacramentali nella diocesi di Brescia’, Brixia Sacra. Memorie Storiche della Diocesi di Brescia, ), "***, pp. '#-,&, in particular p. '* (reprinted as: A. Loda, ‘Cristo Fons pietatis. Il sangue di Cristo fonte viva di redenzione’, Il Sangue della Redenzione, ), #&&(, pp. "*"-#"'); Báez Rubi (as in n. '), pp. $&(-$"'; recently M. Olmedo Muñoz, ‘Las pinturas murales del siglo XVI en el convento agustino de Metztitlán, Hidalgo. El programa iconográ%co, sus posibles modelos e implicacones teológicas’, M.A. thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, #&&,, pp. "-",, to whom I am very grateful for sending me the photograph of the fresco in Metztitlán., Recently S. De Mieri, Girolamo Imperato nella pittura napoletana tra ‘"&& e ‘#&&, Naples #&&*, pp. #$&-#$). I am very grateful to Franco Valente for sending me the photograph of the painting in Piansi.+ Z. van Ruyven-Zeman, M. Leesberg, J. Van der Stock, )e Wierix Family, part +, Amsterdam, #&&); p. ' (Hollstein’s, Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts c. !*"&-!%&&, vol. (().

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a source of a loose inspiration for a stained glass window made by Christoph Murer around "(&&, destroyed during the Second World War (previously in Berlin, Kunst-gewerbemuseum).*

!e discussion of the widespread reception of the composition should also include, relatively little known, examples from the Central Europe. Among them is a frontispiece of Postylla by Jakub Wujek from "'+) (%g. ')"& and a woodcut at the end of Geistlicher Weinberg by Martin Rudolphus from "(&& (%g. ()."" However, these two works, unlike all others mentioned above, were designed probably after a di/erent model, not the Venetian engravings. It seems possible that a direct source of inspi-ration for Formschneiders was in fact an artwork located much closer geographically and executed in a more familiar technique. !is assumption is supported by a fact that, contrary to most scholars’ opinion, the Venetian engravings dated to "'(* were not the earliest examples of the depiction of the Cruci%ed Christ as the source of the seven sacraments.

!e origins of this iconographic type in the mid-sixteenth century, in fact should be located north of the Alps. A woodcut displaying an identical design appeared in consecutive, initially German and later Latin, editions of Michael Helding’s Cate-chism. It was published in German several times by a Mainz publisher Franz Behem ("''", "''$, "'',, "'(", "'+'),"# and in "'(# the %rst Latin edition was published by

* M.-B. Wadell, Fons pietatis. Eine ikonographische Studie, Göteborg "*(*, no. "#); see also review by E. M. Vetter, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, $$, "*,&, pp. #)(-#),, %g. $."& Jakub Wujek, Postylle katholiczney na niedziele cz+,- wtóra letnia…, Cracow, Siebeneycher, "'+); see M. Janocha, Missa in arte polona. Ikonogra(a mszy ,wi+tej w ,redniowiecznej i nowo.ytnej sztuce polskiej, Warsaw "**+, pp. "&#-"&' (there also examples of a similar formula from the Orthodox tradition, for instance in the frontispiece of Petro Mohyla’s Trebnik from "()(). "" Martinus Rudolphus Svidnicensis, Geistlicher Weinberg. Das ist Gründlicher ... und nützlicher Bericht ... Kyrch Gottes zu (nden und bestendig zubehalten seye, Neisse, Andreas Reinheckel, "(&&. NB the German woodcut (Warsaw, University Library, Print Room, T "&+( II/)$#), which Janocha, dates to the %rst half of the "(th century (Janocha, as in n. "&, p. "&$, %g. "'&), seems to be rather later, identical with the woodcut at the end of Geistlicher Weinberg."# Michael Helding, Catechismus, Das ist Christliche Vnderweisung vnsgegründter Bericht, nach warer Euangelischer vnd Catholicher Lehr, Sanct Victor [bei Mainz], Franz Behem, "''", fol. CLVr (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Res/# Liturg. +(). Sermons on the sacraments were delivered


Quentel in Cologne."$ !e Catechism included texts of the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelic Salutation, the Ten Commandments and the Seven Sacraments, while the starting point for each chapter were the sermons given by Helding during a period from Sunday Laetare of "')# to Sunday Judica of "')).") !e part dedicated to the sacraments is consistently introduced by a full page woodcut which in German editions is entitled Bezeichnuß der Sieben heiligen Sacramenten and shows the cruci%x surrounded by medallions with scenes of administration of the sacraments (%g. ,). Above the %gure of Christ appears the dove of the Holy Spirit, and over the cross is the bust of God the Father. !e trunk, which forms the vertical beam of the cross, stems from the baptismal font, and the branches form six rounded medallions with scenes of administration of the sacraments, signed respectively in German or Latin with indications of Biblical passages which refer to a particular sacrament.

In "'(+, therefore still prior to the execution of the earliest Italian engravings showing the discussed design, a woodcut faithfully repeating Bezeichnuß der Sie-ben heiligen Sacramenten, this time with Polish inscriptions was included in the %rst Polish edition of the Catechism of Trent, translated by Walenty Kuczborski, and published on Stanis1aw Hozjusz’s request by Miko1aj Schar/enberg in Cracow. !e publication included forty-four illustrations of predominantly small size (some occurring more than once), six half-a-page prints and one full-page showing the discussed composition of the sacraments and included before the Catechism’s corre-sponding chapter (%g. +)."' !e route with which the representation of Christ as the

in "')$; probably that is why the woodcut is dated to that year in the catalogue of Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, Graph. Res. C: #$); size of the folio $",# x "+,' cm (http://www.virtuelles-kupferstichkabinett.de/?subPage=search&selTab=$&currentWerk=$&",+)."$ Michael Helding, Catechismus Catholicus ... interprete F. Laurentio Surio Carthusiano, Cologne, Quentel & Calenius "'(#.") W. Simon, ‘Catechismus im Medium Buchdruck. Mainzer Katechismusdrucke der Reformationszeit’, in W. Simon, Im Horizont der Geschichte: religionspädagogische Studien zur Geschichte der religiösen Bildung und Erziehung, Münster #&&", p. )"; P. M. Seidel, Michael Helding (!"&#-!"#!). Ein Bischof um Dienst von Kirche und Reich, Münster #&"#, pp. $&$-$)&."' Katechizm albo nauka wiary i pobo.no,ci chrze,cija/skiej, wed0ug uchwa0 S. Trydentskiego Concilium, przez uczone a bogobojne ludzie zebrana i spisana, Cracow, Schar/enberg, "'(+, p. "&); J. Z. S1owi2ski,

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source of the sacraments reached Cracow, was probably relatively straightforward. Of key importance was Behem’s publishing house in Mainz, where from "''" German editions of Helding’s Catechism were published and where in "'', appeared the %rst full edition of Stanis1aw Hozjusz’s Confessio (dei Catholicae Christiana."( Perhaps it was at that time, when Hozjusz’s circle became familiar with the composition, which undoubtedly distinguished itself from other woodcuts used by contemporary pub-lishers because of its size and the complex iconography.",

Consequently, the representation of the Cruci%ed Christ as the source of the seven sacraments was well-known north of the Alps already in the "''&s and "'(&s. !ere-fore, a vital question which needs to be posed is how this type reached Italy. Some notions allow a cautious assumption that in fact the circle of Stanis1aw Hozjusz enabled this process of dissemination. Soon after the Polish edition of the Catechism of Trent was published in "'(+, Hozjusz left Poland and travelled to Rome in sum-mer "'(*, the year to which the earliest Italian version of the composition is dated. He was accompanied by his two secretaries, namely Stanis1aw Reszka and Tomasz Treter. Both, but in particular the latter, in following years, had played a signi%cant role in the creation of three allegorical engravings, of which one was signed also by Luca Bertelli.

Katechizmy katolickie w j+zyku polskim od XVI do XVIII wieku, Lublin #&&', pp. *$, "&#-"&(."( Stanis1aw Hozjusz, Confessio Catholicae Fidei Christiana vel potius explicatio quaedam Confessionis a Patribus factae in Synodo Provinciali, quae habita est Petricoviae Anno Domini millesimo quingentessimo quinquagesimo primo, Mainz, Behem "'',. !e %rst part of Confessio was published earlier in "''$: Confessio Fidei Catholicae Christiana authoritate Synodi provincialis quae habita est Petrcoviae anno MDLI Mense Iunio aedita ... pars prior, Cracow, Schar/enberg, "''$. ", !e complex process of creating Hozjusz’s Confessio and the story of its %rst editions are described in A. Eichhorn, Der ermländische Bischof und Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius, vol. ", Von seiner Geburt bis zur Erlangung der Cardinalswürde, Mainz "+'), pp. ##&-##'. !ere is evidence of contacts between Hozjusz and Helding around "'(&, see Korespondencja Stanis0awa Hozjusza kardyna0a i biskupa warmi/skiego, vol. III ("''+-"'("), part " ("& V "''+-$" VIII "'(&), ed. H. D. Wojtyska, Olsztyn "*+& (Studia Warmi2skie, ",), pp. "#", "#,, $+(.


From the pioneering studies of Franz Hipler, the conceptual idea behind the three engravings dated to "',$-"',' was ascribed to Tomasz Treter."+ Tadeusz Chrzanowski named the prints ‘Hozjusz’s triptych’, because they were all dedicated to Hozjusz."* Special attention should be drawn to the %rst composition, showing the allegory of the Catholic Church entitled Typus Ecclesiae catholicae ad instar brevis laicorum catechismi. It is based on the composition from the central panel of a triptych dated to "'',, currently preserved in Skolity, Ermland (%g. *),#& which also shares several similar motifs with the above mentioned woodcuts from Helding’s Catechism.#" !e earliest engraved version of Typus Ecclesiae, hardly ever mentioned in relevant studies, was created in "',$ and signed by Giovanni Battista de’ Cavalieri, an engraver active in Rome;## the second state of the print dated to "'*', is more frequently mentioned by scholars.#$ Relatively well-known is another version of the same composition dated to "',) signed by Luca Bertelli (Venetijs apud Lucam Bertelleum, %g. "&).#)

"+ F. Hipler,. ‘Die. Kupferstecher. in. Ermland’, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte und Alterthumskunde Ermlands, ,, "++", p. $)&; J. Umi2ski, ‘Zapomniany rysownik i rytownik polski XVI wieku, ksi3dz Tomasz Treter i jego !eatrum virtutum D. Stanislai Hosii’, Collectanea !eologica (Przegl3d Teologiczny), "$, "*$#, pp. #$-#*."* T. Chrzanowski, Dzia0alno,- artystyczna Tomasza Tretera, Warsaw "*+), pp. )'-(,; on Treter’s activity, see also T. Chrzanowski, ‘Uzupe1nienia do biogra%i Tomasza Tretera’, Rocznik Historii Sztuki, "', "*+', pp. "#*-"(#. #& T. Chrzanowski, ‘Typus Ecclesiae – Hozja2ska alegoria Ko4cio1a’, in Sztuka Pobrze.a Ba0tyku. Materia0y Sesji Stowarzyszenia Historyków Sztuki, Gda/sk, November !$%#, Warsaw "*,+, pp. #,'-#**.#" For more detailed discussion on the origins of Typus Ecclesiae Catholicae, see my ‘Typus Ecclesiae Catholicae – trydencka wizja Ko4cio1a, jej geneza i recepcja’, in Sztuka po Trydencie. Materia0y konferencji naukowej, 1! V-! VI 2&!2, Cracow, Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Paw0a II (in print).## For a reference to this version, see G. Llompart, ‘Ecclesia Sponsa: Tres grabados manieristas’, Traza y Baza, ', "*,), pp. ($-,(. !is reference was ignored by later writers on the subject, which entailed various errors in dating the consecutive versions of the composition, manifested for instance in currently published remarks by U. Rozzo, ‘Il Typus Ecclesiae nella polemica tra protestanti e cattolici nel Cinquecento’, in Visibile teologia: il libro sacro (gurato in Italia tra Cinquecento e Seicento, ed. E. Ardissino, Rome #&"#, pp. '*-+# (where, in general, ignored was most of the literature on the subject of Typus Ecclesiae and Cavalieri’s contacts with Stanis1aw Hozjusz’s circle, mainly with Tomasz Treter).#$ !is engraving was %rst published by Hipler (as in n. "+), p. $)&.#) For instance, Mostra di stampe popolari venete del ‘"&&, ed. A. Omodeo, Florence "*(', p. $#, %g. ##;

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!e second engraving from ‘Hozjusz’s triptych’ shows the allegory of the sign of the cross;#' dated to "',), it is signed by Cavalieri and includes the name of Treter as a donor. !e third executed in the jubilee year "',', also by Cavalieri, depicts the allegory of Rome as a Holy City.#( All three compositions are rather intricate and particular motifs have numbers corresponding to the independently printed com-mentaries. Stanis1aw Reszka wrote the Explicatio to Typus Ecclesiae, and Treter himself provided the commentaries for the other two engravings.#,

After few years, Stanis1aw Reszka described Hozjusz’s practice of sending the received prints to eminent authorities.#+ Previous scholars supported this testimony with quotes taken from Stanis1aw Hozjusz’s letter exchanges with Charles Borromeo

E. M. Vetter, Die Kupferstiche zur Psalmodia Eucaristica des Melchior Prieto von !#22, Münster "*,#, p. $"), %g. ",+; G. J. van der Sman, ‘Print Publishing in Venice in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century’, Print Quarterly, ",, #&&&, no. $, p. #),, %g. ,+; W. Brückner, Lutherische Bekenntnisgemälde des !#. bis !3. Jahrhundert. Die illustrierte Confessio Augustana, Regensburg #&&,, pp. )"-)#, %g. "*; Rozzo (as in n. ##), p. ,$.#' Recently M. Scorsetti, ‘Giovanni Battista De Cavalieri. Catalogo delle stampe sciolte’, part II, Gra%ca d’arte, "$, #&&#, no. ,"; E. Leuschner, Antonio Tempesta: ein Bahnbrecher des römischen Barock und seine europäische Wirkung, Petersberg #&&', %g. +.##, p. #(+; the subject matter was rightly identi%ed by C. Gallori, ‘Un’ Allegoria del segno della Croce tra Polonia, Italia e Messico’, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, '', #&"$ (in print).#( T. Chrzanowski, ‘Tomasza Tretera Roma Sancta’, Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, )$, "*+", pp. ")$-"').#, !e explanation to the Typus Ecclesiae was %rst published anonymously: Explicatio typi Ecclesiae Catholicae, Rome, Blado, "',$; " folio )&,' x '),( cm (Milan, Biblioteca e Archivio del Capitolo metropolitano, #G-)-)/#,), the later Italian edition was signed by Reszka (Stanis1aw Reszka, Dichiaratione della Figura della Chiesa Catholica, Rome, Blado, "',); $# pages unnumbered; Cracow, the Jagiellonian Library, Cim &.,"+). !e Latin version was also published on one folio by Bertelli (Explicatio Typi Ecclesiae Catholicae, Venice, Bertelli, "',', Cracow, the Jagiellonian Library, Collection of Jan Pon-towski, box ")*). !e explanation of the allegory of the sign of the cross was preserved in the Italian edition: T. Treter, Dichiaratione della (gura della Croce ... per ammaestramento delle persone idiote, con un modo di dire la corona della gloriosa Madonna per via di meditatione, Bologna, Benacci, "',( (Bologna, Biblioteca dell’Archiginnasio, $ S.VI*.$,, op. )). !e explanation to Roma sancta in Italian is in a form of a dialogue: Tomasz Treter, Roma santa overo dialogo, nel quale un Romano ammaestra un Pellegrino delle cose spiritauli, e sante di Roma, Roma, Blado "',' (Weimar, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, O *: (&# [#+]). #+ Stanis1aw Reszka, De atheismis et phalarismis evangelicorum libri duo quorum prior de (de posteriori tractat de operibus eorum, Naples, Carlino & Pace "'*(, p. (&".


and a Portuguese bishop, Jerónimo Osório. On the #&th of May "',$ Hozjusz sent Borromeo typus Ecclesiae Catholicae with a brief explanation.#* !e same year, in July, Osório con%rmed that he received Ecclesiae typus, sent probably without the explanation.$& !e following two letters are dated as late as "','. On the "+th of January Osório thanked Hozjusz for the two typi, which he attributed to the Polish cardinal’s secretaries: Tomasz Treter and Stanis1aw Reszka.$" !e %rst engraving is again typus Ecclesiae, this time accompanied by the explicatio. More puzzling is the second engraving, referred to as typus Christi cruci(xi. In turn, on the ""th of October Hozjusz wrote to Charles Borromeo about three engravings: %rst, made two years

#* ‘Oblatus mihi fuit a meis typus Ecclesiae Catholicae cum brevi quadam illius explicatione. Quod opus, cum probari non paucis animadvertissem, pro meo studio et observantia erga Dominationem vestram illustrissimam et reverendissimam putavi faciendum ut id cum illa quoque communicarem’ – Ms. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Epistolario di S. Carlo Borromeo, F *" inf., no. #(, fol. '*; a fragment of the letter is quoted by Hipler (as in n. "+), p. $)&.$& ‘Ecclesiae typum libentissime vidi, et pro tantis bene%ciis immortales tibi gratias ago. Typus autem ipse, et forma decoris sempiterni et stabilitate divinae virtutis animadversa, me multo acrius incitavit ad dimicandum. Quidam sacerdos eruditus ex meis domesticis et familiaribus typum complecti carmine nixus est. An id, quod concupivit, fuerit assecutus, ignoro. Carmen vero tibi mittere decrevit; quod si fecerit, quae tua singularis benignitas est, id boni et aequi consulas oportet.’ – L. Bourdon, Jeronimo Osorio et Stanislas Hosius d’après leur correspondence (!"#"-!"%3), Coimbra "*'(, p. +#, see also p. )) (reprint from Boletim da Biblioteca da Universidade de Coimbra, #$, "*'().$" ‘Benignitas tua non satis habet ornare me bene%ciis, quae ad dignitatem meam, & gerendi muneris commoditatem pertinent, nisi etiam illa diligenter accumulet, quibus pietatis studium acrius in0ammetur. Itaque licet pro Ecclesiae sanctitate mori cupiam, & Crucis memoriam in mente perpetuo de%xam habere desiderem, mirum tamen est, quantum mihi alacritatis ad hoc studium litterae tuae cum sanctissimis Rescii tui & Treteri typis addiderint. Quod vero ad explicationem adtinet, Poeta quidem noster, quoad ingenio pervenire potuit, elaboravit. Quod conatus est, laudo, quod assequi nequivit, ignosco. Haec tamen explicatio, quam cum literis accepi, clarissimum nobis lumen ita praetulit, ut omnem obscuritatem sustulerit. De Christi vero cruci%xi typo quid dicam? Nullum enim argumentum magis appositum cogitationibus meis mihi dari potuisset. Nam quinque libris, quos de sapientia inscripsi, qui nondum in lucem prodierunt, id ago, ut demonstrem omnem verissimae sapientiae rationem Christi cruci%xi disciplina contineri. Miri%ce igitur delectatus sum typo, quo multo acrius exarsi ad cupiditadem edendi operis a me: si non admodum feliciter, at certe valde diligenter elaborati.’ – Stanis1aw Hozjusz, Operum tomus secundus quae nunc primum in lucem prodeunt, ed. S. Reszka, Cologne, Cholinus "'+) (hereafter: HO, II), p. $*$; Bourdon (as in n. $&), pp. ++-+*.

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earlier, depicted Church, the other, executed one year earlier showed a cross, while the third, recently created and connected to festivities of the jubilee year illustrated Holy Rome.$# Undoubtedly, the cardinal described the ‘Hozjusz’s triptych’. In this context, it would seem that the second engraving mentioned by Osório should be identi%ed as the allegory of the sign of the cross dated to "',). However, the letter stated clearly that the composition included image of the Cruci%ed Christ, not of a cross, and it is unattainable that famous for their erudition Church authorities mis-understood the subject.$$

!is matter can be further elucidated by references to the prints, hitherto ignored by most scholars, included in other Hozjusz’s letters. Of key importance is the let-ter exchange between the cardinal and Henri de Valois. Following his election as the new king of Poland, Henri received typus Ecclesiae with a congratulation letter dated to the #nd of June "',$.$) It may be assumed that the gift did not meet with a particular interest on behalf of the addressee, since in the following year Hozjusz complained about the rejection of his gifts and sent another print: ‘image of the Cruci%ed Christ, which the inventor and the creator, my householder Tomasz Treter, thought appropriate to entitle the Catechism for less educated.’$' Again a lot seems to

$# ‘Quidam ex familiaribus meis ante biennium Ecclesiam, anno vero proximo superiore crucem, per quam Ecclesiam suam Christus colligere dignatus est, non magis describendi quam depingendi laborem, ut mea fert opinio, non inutilem sumpsit; idem illi nunc facere visum est de ea, quae caput est Ecclesiarum omnium, Roma sancta.’ – Ms. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Epistolario di S. Carlo Borromeo, F ,) inf., no. """, fol. #"+r, a fragment quoted in F. Hipler, ‘Die Biographen des Stanislaus Hosius’, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte und Alterthumskunde Ermlands, ,, "++", p. "$+, n. '" and Hipler (as in n. "+), p. $)".$$ However, the chapter XI of Hozjusz’s Confessio (as in n. "(), dedicated according to the title to the ‘image of the Cruci%ed’ mentions also representations of the cross itself.$) ‘Ut autem habeat Maiestas Tua monimentum aliquod meae singularis erga te observantiae, mitto illi typum eius Eccclesiae, cuius acerrimum propugnatorem se iam annis aliquot declaravit. Quod levidense, ut aiunt, munusculum a subdito & servitore suo, ut hilari animo accipiat, maiorem in modum peto.’ – HO, II (as in n. $"), p. $)(.$' ‘Dederam negotium propinquis isthic meis, ut in signum debitae subiectionis meae V. M. perexigua quaedam o/errent munera, quae cum fuissent oblata, noluisse Maiestatem Vestram accipere, fortassis quia tanta Maiestate digna non fuerunt. Sed interea cogitare postea non destiti, quodnam esse munus posset V. Maiestate non indignum, ut illud ei reicere non liceret. Interea oblata mihi fuit imago Christi cruci%xi


indicate that the print showed the allegory of the sign of the cross: the date of the letter – year "',), the author – Tomasz Treter, a catechetical value of the work and the fact that it included an explanation. However, as in the case of the letter from Osório from January "',' the reference is made to the Cruci%ed %gure not to the cross. !e print sent to Henri de Valois in "',) could also be tentatively identi%ed as Typus Ecclesiae, since its intricate composition includes the representation of the Cruci%ed Christ. Even so (which seems rather unlikely) it does not enable to identify the second engraving sent to Osório, who clearly distinguished Typus Ecclesiae from Typus Cruci(xi. If one assumes that Osório gave an accurate de%nition of the basic subject matter and that the quoted passages did not refer to the allegory of the cross from "',), Typus Cruci(xi remains a mystery.

!e cruci%x was undoubtedly an immensely popular motif in prints from the second half of the sixteenth century. However, Osório’s letter seems to suggest that the print he received from Hozjusz had a more complex iconographic program. Allegorical cruci%xions were also not uncommon at that time.$( It is problematic to reconstruct the composition of the engraving from a laconic and imprecise description, but the two letters from Osório contain further important clues, because they note his circle’s reaction to the prints. In the earlier letter, written in July "',$, the Portuguese bishop not only thanked for the gift and the pleasure he took in examining Ecclesiae typum, but also described that a certain scholar attempted to write a song, as a kind of an explanation of the image, which, upon completion, he

cum brevi quadam illius declaratione, quam eorum, qui sunt rudiores, Catechismum ei qui pinxit & %nxit !omae Tretero familiari meo inscribere visum est. Quod ego munus quamlibet exiguum non indignum V. M. quin eius generis esse iudicavi, ut illud aspernari nullo modo possit, non quod illa Catechismi alicuius indigeret (cum omnia %dei mysteria satis perspecta & explorata habeat) sed ut immensum hoc, nec unquam satis praedicandum Christi bene%cium recolendo, & causam eius memoria saepe repetendo, tanti bene%cij fructum in se transferre conaretur.’ – HO, II (as in n. $"), p. $+'.$( It su5ces to mention two engravings with a complex allegorical iconography, which show the cruci%x with spreading out branches; one includes the signature of Luca Bertelli, the second of Antonio Caranzani (Antonius Caranzanus curabat Romae Anno D[omi]ni !"%%), both are held in the same box as the mentioned before engravings signed by Bertelli: !e Representation of the Cruci%ed as the Source of the Sacraments from "'(* and Typus Ecclesiae from "',) (Cracow, the Jagiellonian Library, Collection of Jan Pon-towski, box ")*).

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wished to sent to Hozjusz. In the second letter, from January "',', Osório con%rmed that the song was written. Louis Bourdon, who posited that its author was António Lopes, cautiously pointed to his work, listed in earlier literature: De Mysterio Crucis Dominicae, de diversis eiusdem typis, ac Sacramentis ab ipsa promanantibus.$, In fact, it seems probable that it had a close connection to Typus Ecclesiae, in which Christ as the source of the sacraments played a crucial role. However, the title clearly shows that the author had in his mind more than one allegorical representation. It can be assumed, that one of them was the image of the Cruci%ed as the source of the sacra-ments, and it was that composition which Osório called Typus Cruci(xi in his letter from January "','.

Such a hypothesis enforces a closer analysis of the relation between Typus Ecclesiae and Typus Cruci(xi. As mentioned above, the woodcut version of the representation of the Cruci%ed as the source of the sacraments circulated from the beginning of the "''&s, and inspired the composition of Typus Ecclesiae, applied for the %rst time in the painting from Skolity in "'',. In turn, the panel painting by Girolamo Imperato of "(&$, which certainly evokes the representation of the Cruci%ed as the source of the sacraments, is also enriched by few additional motifs, which could have been drawn from Typus Ecclesiae. !is painting is unusually well-documented and a con-tract which survived for it stipulated that the painter was allowed to diverge freely from the original print, which served as a principal model and was to be made avail-able to him upon request.$+ Moreover, the contract stated that the painting should

$, Bourdon (as in n. $&), p. )', quoted after D. Barbosa Machado, Biblioteca Lusitana historica, critica e cronologica na qual se comprehende a noticia dos Authores Portuguezes, e das Obras, que compuserão desde o tempo da promulgação da Ley da Graça até o tempo prezente, vol. ", Lisbon ",)", p. $&+. See also Andreas Schott, Hispaniae Bibliotheca seu de Academiis ac bibliothecis item elogia et nomenclator clarorum Hispaniae scriptorum, tomis III distincta, Frankfurt, Marne & Aubry "(&+, p. '$$ where Lopes’s work is described as ‘Crucis mysterium, opus praeclarum, lectuque dignum’.$+ ‘Item nel quatro di mezo nostro Signore in Croce, da man dextra la Madonna et da man sinistra santo Giovanne con seie storiette a torno proportionate con tutto quello sta pintato in una stampa similmente %rmata per mano di me predicto notaro di volontà d’esse parti et similmente consignata al predicto Geronimo per exibirla sempre et quando sarà requesto dal predetto Francisco. Verum non sia obligato il detto Geronimo observare le preditte seie istoriette, seu %gure di quelle, ben vero megliorarle et di sotto la Croce il fonte nel quale fonte non si haverà d’observare quelle pinture ch’in detta stampa


include heretics drowning in the sea, and, unlike in the print, depict %gures of the newly baptised, who walked as nude children towards the baptismal font where, after receiving the sacrament, they were enrobed in white cloths and guided by an angel to the Church’s edi%ce. No speci%c source for this two motifs has been identi%ed, but they can be found in Typus Ecclesiae where the Church’s edi%ce built on the land is surrounded by the sea, which devours heretics (on four sides in the Skolity’s painting and in the foreground in the prints). Undoubtedly, the motif of drowning heretics is not particularly novel and it can be observed in other allegorical compositions. However, the formula used to illustrate the baptism is less common and in Typus Ecclesiae it appears directly below the cruci%x, where nude children walk under the font, to emerge as dressed in white robes and to direct their steps towards the edi%ce on which the Ecclesia is seated.

!erefore, the modes and routes of dissemination of the representation of the Cruci%ed Christ as the source of the sacraments may be summarised as follows: an original woodcut version of the subject was created in the mid sixteenth century in Germany, it was included as an illustration in Michael Helding’s Catechism published from "''" in German by the Mainz publisher Behem, and later, from "'(#, in Latin by Quentel in Cologne. Probably in Mainz, someone from Stanis1aw Hozjusz’s circle saw the composition, when the %rst complete edition of Confessio Fidei Catholicae Christiana was prepared in Behem’s publishing house in "'',. !e central part of the triptych (now in Skolity) was executed in the same year and its composition owed, to some extent, its form to the iconographic program of the discussed woodcut. !e design was later closely repeated in the Polish version of the Catechism of Trent, pub-lished by Schar/enberg in Cracow in "'(+. In "'(* Hozjusz together with Stanis1aw

al presente si ritrovano, ma si bene pintarci %gliuoli ch’entrano nudi indotti da doi patrini et nel loro uscita siano vestiti di bianco et che habbiano risguardo nella loro andata in una cappella nella porta della quale sia dipinto un angelo che con il braccio facci segnio d’ad se ricevere li preditti %gliuoli bianchi. Verum in uno canto di bascio di detto quatro vi sarà dipinto un poco di mare con %gure d’alcuni heretici sommerso in esso et di sopra la predicta cona il Dio Padre con alcuni angeli santi et cherubini et nel quatro della cimmasa uno Cristo con il calice et nelli frontispitii quello meglio parerà ad esso Geronimo’ – Archivio di Stato di Napoli, Notai del Cinquecento, Orazio Sabatino di Napoli, scheda )'+, protocollo "', /. ,("v-,($r (non vidi, quoted after De Mieri, as in n. ,, p. $'").

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Reszka and Tomasz Treter travelled to Rome. It is possible, that due to their activity in Italy the Venetian engraved versions of the composition were created, among others by Luca Bertelli. Furthermore, if one assumes that it was the representation of the Cruci%ed as the source of the sacraments that the cardinal sent to Osório (and possibly also to Henri de Valois) Stanis1aw Hozjusz and his circle may also be hypo-thetically credited with further dissemination of this design. However, it should be emphasised that from the "'(&s and "',&s the discussed composition diverged into two streams. !e %rst was further developed in Northern woodcuts and appeared, for instance, on the frontispiece of Wujek’s Postylla and as the %nal illustration to Rudolphus’s Geistlicher Weinberg. !e second stemmed from Venetian engravings and had a more extensive impact, not only on the art in Italy, but also in Northern Europe where it was engraved, among others, by Wierix and even on the Western shores of the Atlantic Ocean which was manifested in Mexican paintings.

More generally, the analysed iconographic formula supports the widespread theory about the role of prints in dissemination of the designs and their ability to reach even the furthest territories. At the same time, the discussed above story accounts for the complexity of such processes. Seldom was the relation between the original print and a copy (be it an entire or a fragmentary repetition) straight-forward. As it happened, various works created networks of agencies, and acted in complex relations to other iconographic formulae, as in the case of the Cruci%ed Christ as the source of the sacraments and Typus Ecclesiae Catholicae.

Translated by Zuzanna Sarnecka


Fig. ". )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, engraving, Luca Bertelli, "'(*. Copyright: Jagiellonian Library, Cracow.

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Fig. #. )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, fresco in the portico in Augustinian Convent in Metztitlán, Hidalgo, c. "',,. Photo: M. Olmedo Muñoz.


Fig. $. Girolamo Imperato, )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, "(&$, in Sant’ Elia a Pianisi. Photo: F. Valente.

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Fig. ). Hieronymus Wierix, Typus s. utriusque legis, "(&,, engraving, London, British Museum. Copyright: Trustees of the British Museum.


Fig. '. )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, woodcut on the frontispiece of Jakub Wujek, Postylla..., "'+). Copyright: Ossolineum, Wroc1aw.

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Fig. (. )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, "(&&, woodcut in Martinus Rudolphus, Geistlicher Weinberg…, "(&&. Copyright: Silesian Digital Library.


Fig. ,. )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, woodcut in Michael Helding, Catechismus Catholicus…, "''". Copyright: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich.Fig. +. )e Cruci(ed Christ as the Source of the Seven Sacraments, woodcut in Katechizm albo nauka wiary i pobo.no,ci chrze,cija/skiej…, "'(+. Copyright: Ossolineum, Wroc1aw.

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Fig. *. Typus Ecclesiae Catholicae, central part of the triptych, Skolity, parish church, "'',. Photo: author.

Fig. "&. Typus Ecclesiae Catholicae, engraving, Luca Bertelli, "',). Copyright: Jagiellonian Library, Cracow.

Artistic Translations Between Fourteenth and Sixteenth Centuries.

International Seminar for Young Researchers. Proceedings

Warsaw !"#$

Edited by Zuzanna Sarnecka, Aleksandra Fedorowicz-Jackowska

Designed by Aleksandra Fedorowicz-Jackowska

Printed by Zak%ady Gra&czne Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Support for this publication has been provided by Rada Konsultacyjna Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

and the Institute of Art History, University of Warsaw.

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