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"Portrait of Stanislaw Teczynski", prior to 1634, oil on canvas, Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow
"The Battle of Lepanto", detail with the Polish procession, after 1632, oil on canvas, Wawel Royal Castle, Cracow
The arrival at the court of Sigismund III Vasa of the Venetian artist Tommaso Dolabella was an essential event for the adaptation by Polish painting of the basic solutions of Italian modern art; these innovations included the construction of multi-figural compositions, the creation of spatial illusion, and the introduction of narration through images. Dolabella was not an outstanding artist but his lenghty activity in Poland, in which an ever greater role was played by a Polonized workshop and Northern graphic patterns, proved to be decisive for moulding a local, guild versin of Baroque religious painting. In the large canvases by Dolabella and his assistants, frequently comprising historical or religious cycles, the place of skillfulness was gradually taken by provincial awkwardness, the echoes of Venetian colourism faded, and the Old Polish predilection for vivid hues, lavish ornaments, and pompous solemnity came to the fore. This was the path followed by many European models, adapted to "Polish custom". [*]
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