Portraits after Life - The Baroque Legacy of Poland's Nobles
The elaborate funeral portraits of Poland's 17th-century nobility are a window on their self-image and lifestyle, as Bozena Grabowska discusses here. (Translated from the Polish by George Lambor).
The Baroque period in Poland lasted longer than any other in the course of the country's recent history. The first signs of it appeared towards the end of the sixteenth century and its decline did not set in until around 1740-60, when it found itself competing with the new currents of the Enlightenment. The high point of Baroque development occurred in the seventeenth century, despite this being a period when the country was frequently at war. If we count the years of peace enjoyed by various European countries during this time, Poland had just thirty-two years; Austria, thirty-nine; France, forty-seven; Sweden, forty-eight; Russia, forty-nine and England fifty-eight.
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