Stephen Báthory

The second half of the 16th century was a time of popularization of the art of medal-making in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Of course, this does not mean that it became a common means of artistic expression. Rather, it means that the circle of people interested in this type of art was widened. Until then, patronage was concentrated in the hands of the royal court, and the artists were foreigners who rarely stayed in Poland for long. During the reign of Stefan Batory medals began to be created by local artists. To a greater extent, medals became an object of interest not only of the royal court but also of the magnates. On the one hand, this manifests itself in the creation of medals - or more often tokens - ordered, for example, by royal treasurers. On the other hand, royal medals, sometimes in large quantities, were presented to close associates of the king. More and more often medals were created on the occasion of other activities. The links between medal makers and mints became more and more visible. This was particularly true of the Vilnius mint, but other mints also took part in the procedure. Another feature of medals produced at that time is the anonymity of their creators. This was probably related to the previously mentioned fact. The creators of medals were more and more often talented engravers working in mints who did not treat medals as their main occupation. Depending on their preferences, they followed to a greater or lesser extent the new, Baroque trend which also started to appear in medal-making. The subject matter of the representations also changed, as the desire to document important historical events became more and more evident. This did not mean, however, a departure from symbolic and propaganda representations.

The presented medal is an example of such a work. Unfortunately, we do not know the author, place or exact time of its creation. The noticeable influence of German Mannerism made Adam Więcek assume that it was made in the western part of Poland, perhaps in Olkusz or Poznań. The original was made in silver in the period between 1582 and 1585, while the present piece is a later, slightly smaller than the original, brass copy made in a casting technique.

Leszek Poniewozik