Battle of Chocim

"The painting of St. Martin against the battle of Chocim in the church in
Bejsce. Style, iconography and the problem of origin from Lviv".
The article constitutes a small monograph of a painting of "St. Martin against the battle of Chocim" in the parish church in Bejsce. The problems of form and content of the picture, as well as its possible origin from Lviv were considered. The anonymous painter's practice was based on skilful compilation and on formal and iconographic adaptation of motifs taken from several patterns, among which the artistic solutions of Claude Callot's circle as well as Flemish of Romeyn de Hooghe extend to the fore. We can also consider whether our painter could know the yet still unidentified engravings based on several famous paintings of Karel Škréta, Antoon van Dyck or Rubens. Naturally, direct inspirations are out of the question. An interesting motif of compositional echo, created by the monumental and unprecedentedly dynamic posture of Martin in the foreground and the equestrian portrait of hetman John Sobieski in the background, has made the future king a holy leader. Only further archive query may bring confirmation of Edward Rastawiecki's suggestion about the Lviv origin of the painting. The known sources do not record any painting of St. Martin in the Lviv convents of the Discalced Carmelites, of both male and female branches, whereas the one mentioned in the main altar of the Calced Carmelites church of St. Martin is not the same as the Bejsce one and probably was created later. Endorsing the conviction, well established in the literature, about the foundation of the painting in Bejsce by John Sobieski for the female branch of the Discalced Carmelites' church of Virgin Mary of Loreto may mean that the picture had been executed in Wilanów, then transported to Jaworów, from where, in 1691, it got to Lviv. Arguing in favour of the Discalced Carmelites' church of Archangel Michael does not preclude royal foundation of the painting, as it is known that John III Sobieski's artists worked at the reconstruction of the said convent in the final quarter of the XVIIth century. In turn, accepting the hypothesis that our painting was destined for the Calced Carmelites means that initially, around 1700, the picture had been located in a wooden church and only later was transferred to a stone one. CZASOPISMO MOŻNA KUPIĆ TU: http://mnk.pl/sklep/produkt/rozprawy-mnk-tom-ix