Katarzyna Moskal
Education: 1999-2004 – Jagiellonian University, Kraków: history of art;
MA 2004, PhD 2016;
2012/2013 Museology, Postgraduate Studies, Historical Department of Jagiellonian Univerisity
Since 2006 work in the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków (Museum of Kraków)
MA 2004, PhD 2016;
2012/2013 Museology, Postgraduate Studies, Historical Department of Jagiellonian Univerisity
Since 2006 work in the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków (Museum of Kraków)
less
InterestsView All (16)
Uploads
Papers
Publication accompanying the exhibition "Embroidery of our grandmothers", which was held in "Manor house in the apple-tree orchard" in Grzymałów, Poland in 2023. Idea originator: Marta Trybulec, substative supervisor and author of text: Katarzyna Moskal
items serving in the official guild activities (guild chests, crucifixes, writing tools and seals). The extended history and tradition were evidence of the prestige of the guild, which is why the items were treated with respect and, instead of being replaced by
new ones, were mended and renovated.
Church inventories are important written sources for textile researchers. Information about founders of liturgical vestments, the time they became church property, and their repairs and mending can be found there. The analysis of inventories’ texts is carries with it the risk that information might be misinterpreted. People describing the vestments often used some subjective expressions which, according to them, defined the colors, patterns and sorts of textiles unknown to them well. Reading a description literally can lead to misunderstanding and resigning from further analysis in the research process. Luxurious Italian and French textiles with original patterns were often thought to be exotic and called Turkish, Persian or Chinese. It was also sometimes the case that a person writing an inventory gave some untypical names to motives which the patterns constisted of.
The article presents there some examples of liturgical vestments from Krakow churches, which were described in inventories. In their description, incorrect origins were attributed to the textiles or the textiles were described in a misleading way. These examples are evidence that the interpretation of terms used in descriptions requires a lot of care and as much as possible involves comparing to other inventories from the same place and preserved textiles or their iconographic documentation.
These fragments of embroidery in couched metal threads complemented with silk threads in flat stitches depict a medallion with a winged eagle holding a scroll with the inscription“Joh[a]nns” and below a titulus of the cross with the inscription INRI. Two other parts of the textile show remains of medallions with a winged ox and a figure with a scroll and on twosmall fragments remained an edging embroidered on the parchment padding. Very similar iconography and technique can be found in an orphrey in Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Münnich thought to be made in Austria about 1440 and above all the group of orphreys created in the Krakow workshop in the third quarter of the 15th century. The thus enabled reconstruction from the fragments in the Corpus Christi Church an orphrey and to date it to second quarter of the 15th century (probably late forties).
Some specific examples indicating the importance of scientific research of historical objects (textiles and knitwear) in the heritage popularization and protection are presented in the article. In many cases, research helped discover interesting stories of objects. Perizonium of Christ from the Wonderful Crucifix from Mogila turned out to be a fragment of a knitted jacket from the beginning of the seventeenth century, while coats of arms on three chasubles in Corpus Christi Church in Krakow were successfully associated with prior Marcin Kłoczyński. Cataloguing helped to find works of art thought to have been lost, although they had been stored in situ for ages (the chasuble from the Capuchins order, the canonization banners from Dominican order). In many instances, cooperation with art historians allowed the owners of the artefacts to perceive their worth and consequently, to show concern for correct storage and to present them to the broader public ( e.g., during the Cracovia Sacra Nights) with a specialist description added.
Holdings of the Museum of Kraków as a Source
for Reconstructing the History of an Artefact –
Selected Examples
In the process of documenting old liturgical
vestments, we are dealing with artefacts which have seldom
maintained their original shapes. The changes in their
appearance resulted from the reforms implemented by
Charles Borromeo following the Council of Trent, which
entailed the considerable reduction in the length and width
of chasubles. Other significant factors that had an impact
on the appearance of the paraments included the wear and
tear of their materials and the consequent repairs and alterations,
as well as the stripping down of the vestments
of their original expensive ornaments (e.g. golden threads,
gems, valuable embroidery) in order to reuse them. In the
holdings of the Museum of Kraków we can find a number
of photographs dating from the end of the 19th and
the beginning of the 20th centuries in which the liturgical
vestments from Kraków’s churches and monasteries were
immortalized.
The paper presents the value of photographs as an important
iconographic source that enables us to reconstruct the changes in the appearance of liturgical vestments which
have been preserved until our times. The condition of the
vestment at the moment the photograph was taken is recorded
in the image; thus, upon comparison with the surviving
parament, we are also able to notice certain details
that are normally not included in inventory descriptions.
Among such details we should mention the replacement
of galloons and orphreys, the transfer of fragments of embroidery
onto new base, or the degree of damage prior to
conservation.
Publication accompanying the exhibition "Embroidery of our grandmothers", which was held in "Manor house in the apple-tree orchard" in Grzymałów, Poland in 2023. Idea originator: Marta Trybulec, substative supervisor and author of text: Katarzyna Moskal
items serving in the official guild activities (guild chests, crucifixes, writing tools and seals). The extended history and tradition were evidence of the prestige of the guild, which is why the items were treated with respect and, instead of being replaced by
new ones, were mended and renovated.
Church inventories are important written sources for textile researchers. Information about founders of liturgical vestments, the time they became church property, and their repairs and mending can be found there. The analysis of inventories’ texts is carries with it the risk that information might be misinterpreted. People describing the vestments often used some subjective expressions which, according to them, defined the colors, patterns and sorts of textiles unknown to them well. Reading a description literally can lead to misunderstanding and resigning from further analysis in the research process. Luxurious Italian and French textiles with original patterns were often thought to be exotic and called Turkish, Persian or Chinese. It was also sometimes the case that a person writing an inventory gave some untypical names to motives which the patterns constisted of.
The article presents there some examples of liturgical vestments from Krakow churches, which were described in inventories. In their description, incorrect origins were attributed to the textiles or the textiles were described in a misleading way. These examples are evidence that the interpretation of terms used in descriptions requires a lot of care and as much as possible involves comparing to other inventories from the same place and preserved textiles or their iconographic documentation.
These fragments of embroidery in couched metal threads complemented with silk threads in flat stitches depict a medallion with a winged eagle holding a scroll with the inscription“Joh[a]nns” and below a titulus of the cross with the inscription INRI. Two other parts of the textile show remains of medallions with a winged ox and a figure with a scroll and on twosmall fragments remained an edging embroidered on the parchment padding. Very similar iconography and technique can be found in an orphrey in Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Münnich thought to be made in Austria about 1440 and above all the group of orphreys created in the Krakow workshop in the third quarter of the 15th century. The thus enabled reconstruction from the fragments in the Corpus Christi Church an orphrey and to date it to second quarter of the 15th century (probably late forties).
Some specific examples indicating the importance of scientific research of historical objects (textiles and knitwear) in the heritage popularization and protection are presented in the article. In many cases, research helped discover interesting stories of objects. Perizonium of Christ from the Wonderful Crucifix from Mogila turned out to be a fragment of a knitted jacket from the beginning of the seventeenth century, while coats of arms on three chasubles in Corpus Christi Church in Krakow were successfully associated with prior Marcin Kłoczyński. Cataloguing helped to find works of art thought to have been lost, although they had been stored in situ for ages (the chasuble from the Capuchins order, the canonization banners from Dominican order). In many instances, cooperation with art historians allowed the owners of the artefacts to perceive their worth and consequently, to show concern for correct storage and to present them to the broader public ( e.g., during the Cracovia Sacra Nights) with a specialist description added.
Holdings of the Museum of Kraków as a Source
for Reconstructing the History of an Artefact –
Selected Examples
In the process of documenting old liturgical
vestments, we are dealing with artefacts which have seldom
maintained their original shapes. The changes in their
appearance resulted from the reforms implemented by
Charles Borromeo following the Council of Trent, which
entailed the considerable reduction in the length and width
of chasubles. Other significant factors that had an impact
on the appearance of the paraments included the wear and
tear of their materials and the consequent repairs and alterations,
as well as the stripping down of the vestments
of their original expensive ornaments (e.g. golden threads,
gems, valuable embroidery) in order to reuse them. In the
holdings of the Museum of Kraków we can find a number
of photographs dating from the end of the 19th and
the beginning of the 20th centuries in which the liturgical
vestments from Kraków’s churches and monasteries were
immortalized.
The paper presents the value of photographs as an important
iconographic source that enables us to reconstruct the changes in the appearance of liturgical vestments which
have been preserved until our times. The condition of the
vestment at the moment the photograph was taken is recorded
in the image; thus, upon comparison with the surviving
parament, we are also able to notice certain details
that are normally not included in inventory descriptions.
Among such details we should mention the replacement
of galloons and orphreys, the transfer of fragments of embroidery
onto new base, or the degree of damage prior to
conservation.
Drugi tom poświęcono zabytkom tekstylnym z czasów XVII stulecia. Zasadniczym celem tej publikacji jest identyfikacja i uporządkowanie znaczącego materiału tekstyliów rozproszonych w kościołach i klasztorach krakowskich. Dokładne omówienie historii, kompozycji, techniki wykonania uzupełnione stanem badań stanowi porównawczą bazę danych opracowaną na podstawie materiału na co dzień trudno dostępnego, zamkniętego w skarbcach kościelnych.
ISBN: 9788374389556
https://akademicka.com.pl/index.php?detale=1&a=2&id=70900
The book constitutes a monographic study of embroideries created to the middle of 15th century in Krakow, the main artistic centre of Lesser Poland (Małopolska). The publication presents many new findings concerning Krakow embroiderers and their works.