Among the oldest works of art forming part of the collegiate church’s furnishings are the tombstones of Hetman and Grand Chancellor of the Crown Stanisław Żółkiewski and members of his family.

The church in Żółkiew as a votive offering of gratitude

The main church of the magnate’s latifundium was not originally intended by the founder to be his burial place, nor was it designated as a family mausoleum. Stanisław Żółkiewski initially wished to be buried in his father’s tomb in Lviv Cathedral . Towards the end of his life, he changed his mind. He then considered the church he had founded, but in view of the ongoing wars, he allowed for burial outside the country’s borders, in Wallachia (modern-day Moldova). In that case, he ordered

“a high mound to be removed, not out of any ambition on my part, but so that my grave might mark the borders of the Republic”.

In accordance with the hetman’s intention , the Church of St Lawrence, erected between 1606 and 1618, was to be a monument to the glory of the Polish knighthood he commanded, a votive offering of gratitude “to God, who has repeatedly shown His mercy to our fatherland (to which I, too, have rendered such services) and [who] has bestowed victories upon it, that same Almighty God”. This was unequivocally determined by the unprecedented liturgical programme drawn up by Stanisław Żółkiewski . It did not prioritise the clergy’s duties towards the soul of the founder and his family, but instead mandated, above all, that the memory of his victories be preserved.

Żółkiewski established solemn commemorations of the following anniversaries: 24 January – the Battle of Byczyna (1588), 28 January – the battles against the Turks at Udycza and Korowajna (1606), 16 June – the clashes with the Cossacks in Ukraine (1596), 4 July – the battles of Guzów (1607) and Kłuszyn (1610), 20 October – the victory over the army of the Moldavian Prince Michael (1599), 24 November – the repulsion of Archduke Maximilian Habsburg’s forces near Kraków (1587).

The Hetman’s ideals of chivalry found beautiful and unambiguous expression in the artistically superb sculpted frieze running along the cornice of the church’s façades . There are figures of hussars fighting and dying for their homeland and the Catholic faith in battle against the Muscovites, Tatars and Turks, accompanied by the patron saints of chivalry and their commander , represented symbolically through heraldic emblems. There is no shortage of eagles – symbols of the kingdom, whilst also evoking the ancient idea of the psychopomp, the eagle carrying the souls of the dead to eternity. The ideological programme was complemented by a large painting of the Battle of Klushino ( 1610) hanging in the church, depicting the victory that opened the way to Moscow.

His wife, Regina Żółkiewska, née Herburt, understood her husband’s ideals perfectly , establishing in 1621 Mass foundations, with requiems for the souls of the hetman who fell at Cecora and his soldiers who were killed in battle or died in captivity, as well as for those imprisoned by the enemy.

The Collegiate Church in Żółkiew – the mausoleum of the Żółkiewski family

The original purpose of the church , as planned by Hetman Żółkiewski, began to change following his tragic death in 1620. It came to commemorate not only the founder himself, but also members of his family who had fought in defence of their homeland. As a result, the collegiate church became the family mausoleum of the Żółkiewski family and their heirs: the Daniłowicz and Sobieski families. Their tombstones, epitaphs and portraits, along with depictions of victorious battles, filled the interior of the church. Buried in the crypt alongside Hetman Żółkiewski were: his wife Regina, née Herburt ( d. 1626), their son Jan ( d. 1623) and their daughter Zofia Daniłowiczowa ( d. 1634), Voivode’s wife of Ruthenia, her son Stanisław Daniłowicz ( 1636) and her son-in-law Jakub Sobieski ( d. 1648, Castellan of Kraków) and several other family members.

The lack of archival records makes it impossible to establish the circumstances surrounding the creation of the set of tombstones for the hetman’s immediate family. They were commissioned by Zofia Daniłowiczowa, née Żółkiewska , wife of the Voivode of Ruthenia and heiress to her father’s fortune. Despite attempts to attribute the sculptures to specific sculptors active in Lviv during the first half of the 17th century, they must still be regarded as the works of anonymous artists.

Tombstones in the chancel

In the church’s chancel, on either side of the high altar, stand two magnificent monuments of red marble, framed by massive columns of greyish stone. They are composed identically. In deep niches, framed by arcades, stand life-sized, fully sculpted figures. The composition is completed on either side by tables draped with cloth. The plinths feature panels with panegyric inscriptions and decorative plaques. At the centre of the entablature are medallions bearing coats of arms, framed by allegorical figures, whilst on the axis of the columns stand figures of the patron saints.

The tombstone against the wall on the Gospel side

The tombstone against the north wall ( on the left, as viewed from the altar) is dedicated to the Hetman and Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Stanisław Żółkiewski and his son Jan, the Starost of Hrubieszów, who died from wounds sustained at Cecora. Both are clad in full plate armour; their helmets lie at their feet. The elder of the Żółkiewski brothers holds the hetman’s mace and the chancellor’s seal in his hands, whilst the younger holds a mace. At the top is the Archangel Michael – the patron saint of knights – a cartouche with personifications of the virtues ‘Fortitude’ (‘Fortitudo’) and ‘Justice’ (“Justitia”), along with the coats of arms of Lubicz, Korczak, the Herburt family and the Półkozic family; on either side of the sculptures are the patron saints: St John the Evangelist and St Stanislaus the Bishop. The lower part of the plinth is filled with depictions of various types of armaments.

The tombstone by the wall on the pulpit side

On the tomb by the southern wall ( on the right, viewed from the altar) is depicted the hetman’s wife and chancellor’s wife, Regina Żołkiewska, née Herburt, together with her daughter Zofia Daniłowiczowa . A statue of the Virgin and Child is set at the top of the monument , flanked by depictions of the patron saints: St Regina and St Sophia. The cartouche bears the coats of arms of Lubicz , the Herburt family’s own coat of arms , Nieczuja and Bończa.

The depictions of the Żółkiewski family are distinctly portrait-like in nature. This is particularly significant in the case of the hetman, whose iconography awaits detailed study. The painting, hitherto regarded as a faithful likeness of him (held at the National Museum in Kraków), has recently been identified as a depiction of another commander – Marcin Kalinowski, Crown Field Hetman from 1633 to 1636.

The Church of St Lawrence in Żółkiew – a place of worship for a national hero

Over the centuries, the collegiate church in Żółkiew became a special place of veneration for a national hero , whose deeds were commemorated on successive anniversaries of battles, particularly those of Kłuszyn and Cecora. The figure of the commander of the defeated army was portrayed as a flawless hero. And although we know that such people do not exist, this in no way diminishes the memory of an outstanding statesman, a fervent patriot, a man gifted with great talent as a commander, a good steward and a caring provider for his family. It was then that the beautiful legend arose of the lessons in patriotism given by Teofila Sobieska, née Daniłowicz, to her sons — Marek and Jan, the latter to become king, the vanquisher of the Turks and Tatars at Chocim and Vienna. The young Sobieski brothers were said to have learnt Latin from the famous quotation from Virgil’s *Aeneid* inscribed on the gravestone: *Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor* (May an avenger arise from our bones), as well as the couplet: Tibi hostis ad terrorem, Tibi hosper ad exemplum (To you, enemy, as a terror; to you, passer-by, as an example). They also read the inscription on their great-grandmother’s monument, taken from the biblical Book of Judith: Vae genti insurgenti super genus meum. Dominus enim omnipotens vindicabit in eis (Woe to the nation that rises up against my people. The almighty God will take vengeance upon it).

The Żółkiewski family gravestones have survived in good condition; however, it should be noted that the inscriptions on them have been altered. Both were thoroughly restored between 1991 and 1997 during conservation work carried out under the supervision of Janusz Smaza by students from the conservation departments of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Kraków.