"Post mortem"
"Post mortem"

The Image of Sigismund Augustus in Latin Funeral Literature

Author(s): Barbara Milewska-Waźbińska
Subject(s): Cultural history, Modern Age, Recent History (1900 till today), 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Present Times (2010 - today), History of Art
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Sigismund II Augustus; Neo-Latin poetry; funeral literature; humanistic biography
Summary/Abstract: In the 16th century, the death of a ruler was not only a historical fact and a political event, but it also resonated in literature and art. After the death of Sigismund Augustus, however, not many artistic works were created. Among the literary testimonies, a large part are Latin works. The article discusses first the tombstone inscription and the plaques from the sarcophagus and the coffin, then Andrzej Trzecieski’s works written after the king’s death, and finally, it focuses on Latin poems included in the volume In funere Sigismundi Augusti regis Poloniae celebrato Neapoli [...] oratio atque praestantium virorum poemata [1576]. The analysis of the aforementioned texts allowed to distinguish common features of funeral Latin poetry and Renaissance humanistic biography.

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