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Seals of the Cathedral Church of St Wenceslaus in Krakow (K. W. Kielisiński's Album)

Kajetan Kielisinski

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-1059_1
Author: Kajetan Kielisinski
Name: Seals of the Cathedral Church of St Wenceslaus in Krakow (K. W. Kielisiński's Album)
Technique: etching
Material: paper
Dimensions: 27.5 x 35.3 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: decorative
Provenance: Transferred by the Lviv State Republican Historical Museum, 1951

Information about author

Author: Kajetan Kielisinski
Author in the original: Kajetan Wincenty Kielisiński
Artist's lifetime: 1808–1849
Country: Duchy of Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland
Biography: Kajetan Wincenty Kielisiński (7 August 1808 – 2 January 1849) was a Polish graphic artist, illustrator, librarian, engraver, and draughtsman. He was born into the family of court official Kazper and Katarzyna, née Kleska. He studied at Warsaw University and drew under Jan Feliks Piwarski. After the outbreak of the November Uprising (1830–1831), he interrupted his art studies. He took part in the fighting in 1831, serving as a second lieutenant, and after the uprising was suppressed, he was unable to return to Warsaw. He lived in Kraków for some time, and from 1834 to 1839, he was the curator of the collections of H. Pawlikowski (a collector and bibliophile) in Medyka, where he honed his engraving skills, hoping to continue his studies in Vienna. From 1839, he worked as a librarian and curator of art collections for Tytus Działyński, a public and political figure, patron of the arts, and publisher of historical sources, in Oleszyce near Lubaczów, and from January 1840 in Kurnyk. In 1847, he published the "Catalogue of the Double Collections of Count Działyński's Library". Shortly before his death, he married Apollonia, née Gostynska. He died suddenly on 2 January 1849. K. W. Kielisiński's creative legacy includes about 1,000 watercolours, sketches, drawings of folk types, genre scenes, folk costumes, military uniforms, and landscapes, commissioned by W. Dzieduszycki, T. Działyński, and H. Pawlikowski. During his travels to various localities, he collected graphic materials for the publications "Polish Antiquities" and "Folk Costumes". In 1855, Poznań publisher Jan Konstanty Żupanski published "The Kielisiński's Album", which collected the artist's scattered works. The works of K. W. Kielisiński, signed KWK or KIK, are kept in museums in Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw, the Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, and the libraries of Warsaw and Jagiellonian Universities.

Object description

Kajetan Kielisiński created numerous etchings and drawings dedicated to folklore, the life of Polish villages and towns, historical monuments, and landscapes. In 1853, the Poznań publisher Jan Konstanty Żupański issued "Kielisiński's Album", gathering the artist's scattered works, most of which had remained unpublished during his lifetime. Two years later, in 1855, Żupański released a supplementary volume to complement the previous edition, which included etchings depicting coins and seals, figures in historical costumes, alongside rural and urban landscapes.
The presented etching belongs to the graphic sheets published within this 1855 supplement.
The print is a graphic record of two ancient seals from the Kraków Cathedral Church of St Wenceslaus on Wawel Hill. The impressions are arranged one above the other in a vertical symmetrical composition: the upper one has a circular shape, while the lower one is oval-shielded. In the centre of the upper seal, a Romanesque basilica with two towers is replicated, whereas the lower one depicts a church with a tall bell tower and a banner fluttering over the roof of the nave. The seals are framed by Latin legends (inscriptions).
Kielisiński reproduces the sphragistic material with meticulous precision, conveying the architectural iconography of medieval churches, the texture of the wax mounts, alongside decorative suspension cords and tassels.

Inscriptions

Below the image are the artist's inscriptions: on the left – "K.W.K. w Kurniku" [K.W.K. in Kórnik]; on the right – "1841. R." [1841 Year].

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery