The Christmas narrative is illustrated in the play by three main scenes: The Adoration of the Child, the Annunciation to the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Three Kings. In Olbracht Gasztold's Prayer Book, the latter, besides being festive, also has a contemporary feature for the artist. Let us take a look at the Wise Men from the East portrayed by Stanisław Samostrzelnik, a Cistercian from the abbey in Mogiła near Krakow, and the long history of the prayer book.

The Way of the Olbracht Gasztold Prayer Book to Germany
The manuscript of the title is a priceless monument of writing and the art of miniature writing. It is stored in the University Library in Munich and was unknown to the Polish public for nearly 350 years after its creation. Its history can be traced from the moment it appeared in the collection of Ferdinand Orbán (1655-1732), a German scholar, Jesuit and collector of art and books. His book collection in 1802 found its way to the library of the university in Landshut, Bavaria, and in 1838 to the University Library in Munich. From there, the prayer book as a deposit went to the Bavarian National Museum in 1888, only to return to the collection of the Munich library in recent years.

It is uncertain how the manuscript ended up on the territory of present-day Germany. It may have ended up there, inherited successively by Barbara Radziwiłłówna, wife of Stanislaus, the last of the Gasztold family, her second husband, the last Jagiellon, Sigismund Augustus, his relatives, the Vasa family, and then to the Wittelsbachs of the Rhine Palatine line through the marriage of Queen Anne Catherine Vasa (1619-1651), daughter of Sigismund III, to Prince Philip William (1615-1690). The confessor of his son, Prince John William (1658-1716), was Ferdinand Orbán, the first known owner of the work since its founder. The prayer book may also have joined a foreign collection, sharing the fate of many other books from Polish libraries plundered by the Swedes during the 'Deluge' in the mid-17th century.

Stanisław Samostrzelnik and his prayer book
The first mention of Olbracht Gasztold's prayer book in Polish documents comes from 1874 from Józef Łepkowski (1826-1894, archaeologist, historian, encyclopaedist). A year later, Prince Władysław Czartoryski (1828-1894) tried to buy the book, unfortunately without success.

Written in 1528, the prayer book is one of the four 'flagship' works of Stanisław Samostrzelnik (ca. 1490-1541) that have survived to this day. All of them adorn collections outside Poland. Today, these prayer books are named after their founders: Sigismund I the Old (1524, London, British Library), Queen Bona (1527, Oxford, Bodleian Library), Krzysztof Szydłowiecki (1527, now divided between Biblioteca Trivulziana and Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan) and Olbracht (Wojciech) Gasztołd (1528, Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich). The work commissioned by the Lithuanian magnate was the only one written in Polish.

The valuable manuscripts were created at a time when the 'art of book painting' was slowly becoming a thing of the past due to the invention and spread of printing and woodblock prints. The decorated and handwritten book became a luxury commodity, available only to the wealthiest customers who could afford to employ a group of artists and scribes for many months.

Olbracht Gasztold Prayer Book - short description
The prayer book in "octavo" format contains 232 sheets of high-quality parchment-velvet, size 17.7 x 12.9 cm, the edges of the sheets are gilded. In a wooden binding covered in amaranth velvet, it measures 18.3 x 13 cm. Both covers are decorated with five quadrangular fittings of gilt silver, with scenes from the Old Testament: the front cover is decorated with Noah and his sons, Cain and Abel, Samson with a lion and the gathering of manna by the Jews, with the figure of the High Priest in the centre; while the back cover is decorated with David and Goliath, Judith with the head of Holofernes, Gideon and Moses receiving the tablets with the 10 commandments, with Abraham in the centre. The silver buckles bear images of Eve and Adam. The manuscript is written in decorative Renaissance fracture (a variant of Gothic script) on gold-pollinated pages, in framed boxes.

Signed on several pages: SCP (Stanislaus Claratumbensis pinxit, from the Latin name of the monastery at Mogile - Clara Tumba) and accurately dated on one of the cards: 1528. The text consists of three distinct parts: Soulful Peaks (pages 1-90), Hours on the Virgin Mary (pages 91-205), and Prayers to Selected Saints (pages 207-230).

The elaborate prayer book is decorated with 16 full-page miniatures in borders (decorative borders), closed at the top with an arch. They are, in order: Christ standing in the tomb, Saint Jerome, the Annunciation, the Visitation of Elizabeth, the Adoration of the Child, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Three Kings, the Slaughter of the Innocents, the Flight into Egypt, the Presentation in the Temple, Saint Adalbert, Saint Nicholas, Saint Anne Selbeths, Saint Barbara, Saint Catherine, Saint Christopher.

Many pages are decorated with full-page bordering with floral and spiral motifs on a gold background and decorative margins. The miniature on page 161v. (back), depicting the Entombment of the Three Kings, is surrounded by a multi-coloured bordure with lush floral vivification. The scene of the arrival of the Three Kings at the stable is enclosed in a tight rectangular frame from the top ending in an arch. The kings, along with a retinue of people and animals, present their gifts to Jesus seated on Mary's lap. The Child and Mother appear intimidated, looking away from the precious gifts and egotistical visitors. In the figure of the standing king wearing a pallu (headdress), we see a profile shot of the ruler's head familiar from portraits of King Sigismund the Old.

The cryptoportrait of the reigning monarch in the scene of the Adoration of the Three Kings was a popular painting treatment. The number of figures, the glittering rich costumes and the intensity of the colours contrasting with the gold enhance the joyful, unusual mood of the event. The decorative, courtly style of illumination characteristic of Samostrzelnik transforms even a poor stable into an arcane building. The landscaped, painterly background emphasises the laws of Renaissance artistic composition.

Olbracht Gasztołd - the richest Lithuanian
. The commissioner of the prayer book, Olbracht (Wojciech) Gasztołd (c. 1480-1539), Grand Chancellor of Lithuania and Voivode of Vilnius (1522), was a friend of the Bishop of Kraków, Piotr Tomicki, and was well acquainted with the Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Krzysztof Szydłowiecki, the first patrons of Samostrzelnik. Olbracht Gasztold came from a prominent, magnanimous Lithuanian family (sealed with the Abdank coat of arms since the horodels' union), who resided in Gieranions and Tykocin. The richest man in Lithuania, endowed with count titles by the Pope and the Emperor, he reached ever higher state offices. He fought against the Tatars, Moscow (at the Battle of Orsha) and fiercely competed with the Radziwills for supremacy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He even opposed King Sigismund I the Old as an opponent of the union with the Kingdom of Poland. Gasztold's son Stanislaw married Barbara, daughter of Jerzy Radziwill, later wife of King Sigismund Augustus.

Of the four famous Samostrzelnik manuscripts, only the one commissioned by Gasztołd was written in Polish, while it was preceded only by a Latin preface addressed to King Sigismund the Old. As it was identical to that in the King's prayer book, the book was long regarded as the property of the monarch, who was also depicted as the King in the bowing scene. It was not until deeper analysis revealed elements irrefutably indicating that this was Gasztold's prayer book. The H/Abdank (W) coat of arms appears several times in the decoration and text.

The workshop of Stanisław Samostrzelnik - its traces in Gasztołd 's prayer book
. A portrait of Olbracht Gasztold as the founder and owner of the prayer book can already be seen on the first miniature - he is kneeling by the tomb of Christ, with a chain with a chancellor's seal piston around his neck. Another card shows the initials AG - Adalbertus Gastoldus, next to the Abdank coat of arms.

Not all the illuminations in the manuscript are the work of Samostrzelnik. Researchers agree that the artist produced the painted decoration with the help of his collaborators. The fame and growing number of orders required the workshop to work as a team, which leads us to interpret Samostrzelnik's initials S.C. (Stanislaus Claratumbensis), which appear in many manuscripts, as a sign of the workshop rather than evidence of his own painting of the scene.

Whether executed personally by Stanislaw Samostrzelnik or with the participation of his workshop, the colourful parchment works of art have enchanted viewers with their serene beauty and precision of execution for almost five hundred years. All four prayer books could be admired in 2023 at the 'Picture of the Golden Age' exhibition at Wawel Royal Castle.