„Żadnego ziemia brzemienia cięższego nie dźwiga, jak człowieka niewdzięcznego” – o poczuciu wdzięczności, cnocie dobroczynności i adaptacji ikonografii cesarskiej w sztuce chrześcijańskiej .......... 47

‘EARTH BEARS NO BURDEN HEAVIER THAN AN UNGRATEFUL MAN’ – ON THE SENSE OF GRATITUDE, THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY, AND THE ADAPTATION OF IMPERIAL ICONOGRAPHY IN CHRISTIAN ART

The main theme of the article is the significance of the virtues of gratitude and beneficence, rooted in the views of ancient philosophers (primarily Seneca), as well as the ways in which they were represented in the iconography of the Roman Empire and early Christian art. The discussion covers works of coinage and architectural sculpture that illustrate the idea of fulfilling the ideal of beneficence and generosity as the opposite of ingratitude (according to the view of Publilius Syrus), which served to build the prestige of the emperor and his dynasty. Attention is also drawn to the phenomenon of adapting ancient concepts of virtues in medieval Europe: firstly, to the requirements of theology (Caritas as the mother of all virtues – St Jerome, St Ambrose), and secondly, to the creation of models of ideal rulers with Greco-Roman or Old Testament origins. This latter phenomenon is reflected, among other things, in the qualities attributed by the fifteenth-century Polish historian Jan Długosz to King Władysław Jagiełło of Poland.