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Aleksandra Matczyńska: Visual Representations of Power and Prestige of the Noble Family in Artistic Commissions of Women in the Early 17th Century. Silesia and Saxony in Comparison

In the artistic patronage of noblewomen in Silesia and Saxony at the beginning of the 17th century, we can notice a narrowing of their commissions mainly to sacral art. This might be associated not only with aspects of piety, or manifestation of confessional identity but also with a particular exclusion of women from the public sphere, the fact that they did not hold public offices and their daily activities focused mainly on household matters. Participation in religious life, such as going to church services, being a godmother, and in the case of landowners – acting as heads of patron churches – was one of the few areas in which women could participate in the life of the local community on an equal basis with men. It was within the sacral space that they could find a space for the representation and commemoration of themselves and their family. The objects they financed were decorated with coats of arms and inscriptions commemorating the foundress and her family. Works commissioned by noblewomen often depicted portraits of male and female members of the family, as well as the family coats of arms of the woman and her husband. The representation of their noble origins and their spouse's genealogy was associated with the 'double nobility of women', which resulted not only from 'good birth' but also from marriage.
The main topic of my paper will be how power and the prestige of the noble family were represented in artistic commissions of women in Silesia and Saxony in the early 17th century. I will discuss and analyze selected objects in terms of their iconography, ideological significance and commemorative functions, trying to point out similarities and differences in works of art commissioned in Silesia and Saxony. I will put particular emphasis on the analysis of visual forms of creating the image of the individual and the family in these artworks, as well as the ways of developing the prestige of the noble family.