„Szwedzkie napoje” czyli rzecz o wysadzeniu zamku w Sandomierzu w świetle grafiki Gesta ad Sandomiriam Erika Dahlbergha
“Swedish Beverages”, or the Blowing up of the Castle in Sandomierz in the Light of the Print Gesta ad Sandomiriam by Erik Dahlbergh

Author(s): Karol Łopatecki
Subject(s): History
Published by: Instytut Badań nad Dziedzictwem Kulturowym Europy
Summary/Abstract: When presenting war, modern artists mostly depicted battles, sieges, orpolitically significant events (such as signing the peace treaty, surrender, etc.).However, we have one print from the time of Swedish Deluge that presentsa different image. It is the work by Erik Dahlbergh titled Gesta ad Sandomiriam,whose author depicted a successful trick of Swedish soldiers in Sandomierz.The troops retreating from the castle used gunpowder to blow it up, killingseveral hundred Polish soldiers. The work was included in a book by SamuelPufendorf on the achievements of Charles X Gustav, first published in 1696.The analysis of the print shows that the author presented the events nearSandomierz simultaneously. First, he placed on one plane the failed offensiveof Lubomirski’s and Czarniecki’s army and the retreat of the Swedish army onApril, 3. An interesting detail is the body of Mårten Törnsköld shown threetimes, at different stages of performing the task. Besides, the letters includedby Dahlbergh, from “A” to “F”, represent the chronology of events. So the workdoes not show just one event, but it unfolds the dynamics of military activitiesfrom the beginning of April 1656. The main points of the setting are themilitary staff sending troops on punts and the explosion of the castle – theyindicate the beginning and end of the presented events.The print was prepared on the basis of iconographic sources, but of fundamentalimportance was the diary by the general quartermaster of the Swedisharmy, Johan Gorries von Gorgas kept by Dahlbergh, presenting events fromFebruary, 29, to April, 15. The events it describes are thoroughly presented inthe print.

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