Czy Possevino uratował Moskwę? Batory Matejki w świetle wiedzy historycznej z czasów powstania obrazu .......... 393

DID POSSEVINO SAVE MUSCOVY? MATEJKO’S BATORY IN LIGHT OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AT THE TIME THE PAINTING WAS CREATED

The idea of Jan Matejko, the creator of the monumental painting Batory, was to show the eternal rivalry between Poland and Russia, which – as in his other largeformat compositions – he tried to lend a historiosophical dimension, following in the footsteps of poets and national bards. The key figure for the interpretation of the artist’s ideas is considered to be the papal legate Antonio Possevino, who mediated the peace treaty ending the Polish expeditions into Muscovy during the reign of King Stefan Batory. It is commonly believed that this central figure of the work was meant to criticise the Roman Curia and the Jesuits, whose efforts to Catholicise the Tsarist state supposedly prevented Poland from reaping greater and lasting benefits from its victories over Ivan the Terrible. The author of this work seeks to interpret the painting in the context of the knowledge the artist had of these matters and their representation in his other paintings. From this perspective, it is clear that the sources available at that time, the works of contemporary historians that the painter likely consulted and used to carefully study the events depicted, as well as the judgements of the poet and philosopher of history Adam Mickiewicz, who was an authority for Matejko, do not support this interpretation of Batory. Moreover, it in contrary to the treatment of these issues in the artist’s other paintings, Skarga’s Sermon and Wernyhora, as well as his general vision of the role of the Church in history. In addition, Possevino earned respect for his efforts towards the religious union of the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in Ruthenia, which Matejko placed among the most eminent historical achievements of Poland. In Batory, he also depicted figures from that era who were highly critical of the increasingly strong anarchic tendencies within the political class, which made it difficult to understand the seriousness of the threat from Russia and to seize the historic opportunity to eliminate it permanently. And it is precisely this, explaining Poland’s subsequent defeats, that is crucial to the artist’s judgement, which is also fully consistent with what his other works have also expressed.