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 GOTHIC STYLE IN CRACOW ART by the paintings at Ruszcza (c. 1425). It is possible that they were done in the Cracow workshop of Master Paul of Kremsier. In these there is again a strong Bohemian element, which we also notice in a picture representing the birth of St. Mary in St. Catherine's Church; and in a votive picture, being the offering of one John Ognazd, Governor of Czchów in 1450 (this is now at Lemberg). Sometimes, however, Cracow painters venture beyond mere mechanical routine; this is shown, e.g., by a pen-drawing of 1445, being a portrait of Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki. As early as Jagello's times there had come to Cracow a painter named Nicholas, of Kres, in Istria; 1423-1444 was the period of his most intense activity in the town. The fashion he introduced is best represented by a Madonna on a throne, adored by the two St. Jacobs and the two donors; the picture, which is painted in tempera, is in the National Museum at present. The religious lyrism of its spirit, the harmony of forms, the light, silvery colours combine to produce a strangely fascinating impression; as regards form, there is besides the Greek profile of the head of Christ and the regular features of the Virgin—which point to Cologne models—the notable endeavour to overcome rudeness and awkwardness in the outlines of the bodies; the background is formed by a piece of Venetian brocade. In all the characteristic features of the picture we see the influence of the master's model.

Stanislas Durink, a miniaturist, was court painter to King Casimir Jagello from 1436 to 1486. His miniatures have been preserved in the archives of the Chapter. In the court of King Casimir two tendencies in art stood opposed to each other. The Queen-Mother greatly favoured Byzantine civilization. To her, the Holy Cross Chapel is indebted for its magnificent decoration by Russian painters in 1471. The king's wife, Elizabeth of Hungary, on the other hand, was all for Western European culture; her influence is seen in a number of artistic undertakings, the execution of which she entrusted chiefly to masters called from Nuremberg. One of these works is an altar-piece with side wings, to be found in the chapel already mentioned, of 1471; it contains