The so-called Grunwald Cross, now housed in the Diocesan Museum of Sandomierz (silver, gilt, enamel, coral, 86 x 44 cm), a work of great artistic value, is a trophy from the Great War against the Teutonic Order (1409-1411). It is probably identical to the cross that Mikołaj Wolwelini (also Volvelini), also known as Mikołaj of Sandomierz, founder and parish priest of the church in Brodnica, donated to his parish along with a fragment of a relic of the True Cross (Nicolaus de Sandomiria quondam plebanus in Strassburg, after "O ludności polskiej w Prusiech niegdyś krzyżackich" by Wojciech Kętrzyński, p. 176). On March 12, 1343, the Brodnica council and the mayor approved Mikołaj Wolwelini's will, in which he bequeathed to the church crucem ex auro et argento fabricatam gemmisque preciosis adornatam (after "Architektura gotycka na Ziemi Chełmińskiej" by Teresa Mroczko, p. 250). As reported by the chronicler Jan Długosz (1415-1480), the cross was captured by Polish forces after the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and presented in 1411 by King Ladislaus Jagiello (Jogaila of Lithuania) to the Collegiate Church of Sandomierz, as one of three royal gifts for the second most important church in the Diocese of Kraków (after "Polska Jana Długosza" by Henryk Samsonowicz, p. 248).

The cross is considered to be a work of the Upper Rhine workshop, made before 1343. The octagonal base, engraved with the coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania, the Jagiellonian dynasty, and the Sandomierz region, as well as two smaller escutcheons bearing the coat of arms of Dębno, was probably added in the 1470s in Kraków, by order of the lords of the coat of arms of Dębno. It is also worth noting that similar crosses, dating from approximately the same period and held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 17.190.497 and 17.190.498) and the British Museum (inv. 1913.1220.95), are attributed to Italian workshops.

The history of the reliquary diptych of Thile von Lorich presents some similarities. It was created for the commander of Elbląg, Thile Dagister von Lorich. This diptych, a portable altar containing relics, was taken by the monks of Elbląg Monastery to the Battle of Grunwald, where it fell into Polish hands on July 15, 1410. King Ladislaus Jagiello donated it to Gniezno Cathedral with the approval of Pope John XXIII (after "Gniezno mater ecclesiarum Poloniae ...", ed. Stanisław Pasiciel, p. 89). In June 1823, the Gniezno chapter presented the reliquary to Frederick William IV, heir to the Prussian throne. Later that year, it was moved to Malbork Castle (after "Z dziejów złotnictwa elblągskiego" by Leonard Lepszy, p. 12-13). In May 1946, it was incorporated into the collection of the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw (silver, gilt and enamel, 17.8 x 21 cm, inv. MWP 129).

The figurative representation of the Crucifixion on the left panel is accompanied, on the right panel, by figures arranged in two rows representing the adoration of the Virgin and Child by the founder, with Saint Barbara, Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, the apostles Peter and Paul and Saint Dorothy (inner side). A Gothic minuscule inscription, in a southern German dialect, on the outer face of the reliquary, provides information about the founder, also depicted on the left panel as a donor before the Virgin, as well as the date of its creation (thvcvnt : drihvndirt : ior : vnde : ach : vnde : achzic : ior : do : lis : machen : brvder : thile : dagicter : von : lorich : hvckvmpthvr). The outer face of the right panel depicts the Man of Sorrows amidst the instruments of the Passion (Arma Christi). The work was most likely crafted by a goldsmith active in Elbląg, William (or Wilhelm) vom Ryne, frequently mentioned in the records of Malbork Castle between 1399 and 1409.

​Reliquary Cross of Mikołaj Wolwelini of Sandomierz, Upper Rhine or Italy (cross) and Kraków (base), before 1343 and 1470s, Diocesan Museum in Sandomierz. 

Reliquary diptych of Thile Dagister von Lorich by William vom Ryne in Elbląg, 1388, Polish Army Museum in Warsaw.

The second reception staircase, the Senators' Staircase, at Wawel Castle was built between 1599 and 1602 by Giovanni Trevano and Ambrogio Meazzi di Milano in the northwest corner of the castle. It was the first modern construction of its kind in Poland, facilitating movement between the floors of the residence and located within the castle itself. Unlike the Renaissance-style Deputies' Staircase, the marble steps are not steep, but are regularly interrupted on the intermediate floors by comfortable landings. The staircase's early Baroque portals, designed by Trevano, were crafted from Carpathian sandstone by Meazzi. The summary of royal expenses drawn up in the office of the Kraków governor Franciszek Rylski (d. 1603), for the years 1599 and 1600, preserved in the Central Archives of Historical Documents in Warsaw (I 299), records expenses of 2,991 florins, 15 groszy and 12 deniers "for the demolition of the old staircase and the construction of the new one, for Italians and various materials" and the wages of "Jan Trever (Giovanni Trevano), mason ad r[ation]em fl. 1300 datum fl. 1250" and "Ambrosio Meaczi (Ambrogio Meazzi) for inlaying the stairs and doors ad r[ation]em fl. 500 fl. 300".

The overdoors (supraporte) of the north wing of the castle, leading to the Senators' Staircase, were adorned with bronze cartouches mentioned in the castle inventories of 1655, 1692, 1709/10, 1739, and 1787 as "a brass coat of arms, gilded like fire, both of the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, surmounted by a brass crown". They were probably created by a foundryman from the circle of Trevano and Meazzi. However, one of the cartouches from Wawel Castle, also considered to have come from the Łobzów Palace, is considered to have probably been made in Gdańsk (Czartoryski Museum, gold, iron and bronze, 117.2 x 98.5 cm, inv. MNK XIII-1265).

The summary also mentions the payment of a considerable sum, namely 1160 florins and 9 groszy, as an additional payment "for the balance due to the Grand Painter and Mason", as well as a payment to the Kraków painter Kasper Kurcz, who received only 50 florins. The identity of this "Grand Painter and Mason" remains unknown (after "Nieznane źródło do historii przebudowy pałacu wawelskiego za panowania Zygmunta III Wazy" by Olga Solarz, p. 455, 457-458, 460).  

​The Senators' Staircase at Wawel Castle, built between 1599 and 1602 by Giovanni Trevano and Ambrogio Meazzi.

​Bronze cartouche with the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, without the Vasa emblem (missing), from Wawel Castle, ca. 1604, Czartoryski Museum. 

Marble fireplace with Vasa coat of arms in the Birds' Room by Ambrogio Meazzi, ca. 1600, Wawel Castle.

Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (1468-1503), son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon (1427-1492) and Elizabeth of Austria (1436-1505), was the founder of several exquisite examples of late Gothic goldsmithing, many of which have fortunately survived to this day.

On April 13, 1488, at the age of 20, Frederick was elected Bishop of Kraków by the Kraków Chapter. More than five years later, on September 20, 1493, Pope Alexander VI Borgia (1431-1503) created him Cardinal-Priest of the titular church of St. Lucy (Sanctae Luciae).

The so-called "smaller" reliquary cross, one of the finest examples of Kraków goldsmithing, was commissioned by the cardinal and crafted after 1493. It is now housed in the Archdiocesan Museum in Gniezno (silver, gilt, and enamel, height 53 cm, base 22.7 x 19.7 cm, inv. MAG-273). This cross, along with the so-called "larger" cross (silver, gilt, height 76.5 cm, base 30 x 25 cm, inv. MAG-274), was given to Gniezno Cathedral in 1503 by the cardinal, then Archbishop of Gniezno. The piece is decorated with a pelican feeding its young with its own blood, a Christian symbol of sacrifice, at the top, and with floral motifs and the cardinal's enameled coat of arms at the bottom. During World War II, it was confiscated by the Nazis, transported to Germany, and returned by the ecclesiastical authorities in 1958. The larger cross is currently attributed to the Kraków goldsmith Marcin Marciniec (d. 1518), the most prominent goldsmith of the late Gothic period in Poland, who produced numerous pieces in gold and silver, both for secular clients and for churches. His best-known work is the gold reliquary for the head of Saint Stanislaus, commissioned in 1504 by Frederick's mother, Queen Elizabeth of Austria, and bearing the inscription engraved inside: MARTINUS MARCZINECZ AUTHOR HUIUS OPERIS (after "Studia renesansowe" by Michał Walicki, Volume 1, p. 217). A similar reliquary cross, belonging to the Wieliczka bearers' brotherhood and dating from around 1500, kept in the Church of St. Clement in Wieliczka, could also be the work of Marciniec.

Marcin, known in later sources as Martin the Goldsmith (Martinus aurifaber), is probably also the maker of the silver-gilt scepter of Cardinal Frederick, given to the Kraków Academy (Jagiellonian University). He may also have been the maker of cardinal's silver crozier, bequeathed in 1503 by Queen Elizabeth of Austria to the treasury of Wawel Cathedral. This late Gothic crozier was likely reproduced in a painting from the first quarter of the 17th century, attributed to the circle of Tommaso Dolabella, depicting Saint Stanislaus (Wawel Cathedral). The crozier is described in the cathedral's 1563 inventory as being decorated with the image of Saint Stanislaus and the royal coat of arms on one side, and the coat of arms of the House of Austria (Habsburg) on the other. In the painting mentioned, the coat of arms is that of Prus I (Turzyma), traditionally associated with Saint Stanislaus (after "Przyczynek do działalności fundatorskiej kardynała Fryderyka Jagiellończyka" by Krzysztof J. Czyżewski, p. 116-118, 120-121). The aforementioned "smaller" reliquary cross in Gniezno is also decorated with coats of arms, including those of Poland (eagle on a red background), Lithuania (knight on a blue background), the House of Austria (with dark blue stripes instead of red), and a cross identical to the one seen in the painting mentioned, but on a dark blue background (probably the coat of arms of the House of Jagiellon).

Cardinal Frederick's crozier was melted down in 1655 during the invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by neighboring countries, an event known as the Deulge (1655-1660) pro cudenda pecunia in usum Reipublicae ("for minting coins for the benefit of the Commonwealth"). Since an authentic crozier from the late 15th century is depicted in the painting, it is also likely that the effigy itself represents the real person of the time in the guise of Saint Stanislaus.

Scepter of the rector of the Kraków Academy founded by Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (1468-1503) by Marcin Marciniec, ca. 1493-1495, Jagiellonian University Museum.

​​Reliquary cross of Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (1468-1503), so-called "smaller", by Kraków's goldsmith, ca. 1493-1503, Archdiocesan Museum in Gniezno.

​​Reliquary cross of Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (1468-1503), so-called "larger", by Marcin Marciniec, ca. 1493-1503, Archdiocesan Museum in Gniezno.

​Hypothetical reconstruction of the silver crozier of Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon (1468-1503) by Marcin Marciniec, ca. 1493-1503, lost. © Marcin Latka

​Saint Stanislaus by circle of Tommaso Dolabella, first quarter of the 17th century, Wawel Cathedral.