A special topic section was dedicated to the Turkish art in the culture of Polish-Lithuanian state.
It should be emphasized that the works of Turkish art and its historical Polish imitations (produced especially in the 18th century, with significant participation of Polish Armenians) that have been preserved in Polish museums – such as ceremonial arms and armour, tents and decorative textiles, archery and equestrian equipment – represent the highest class in the world and can be confidently considered to be the best showcase of contemporary Polish museum collections, as well as of Old Polish cultural heritage. They therefore possess a dual cultural identity. This is precisely how they should be perceived, as from the 16th century onwards, works of artistic craftsmanship, applied art imported from Ottoman Turkey, Crimea, and Persia were deliberately incorporated into the culture of the elites of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This, in turn, permanently shaped Polish national culture. For centuries, Turkish carpets and decorative textiles adorned manors, churches, and wealthy townhouses. Elements of oriental origin, such as the kontusz costume with the karabela sabre, were not merely a fashion but became recognizable keystones of the Polish visual code to this day. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth epoch, they demonstrated ideological stances and axiological systems – first, republican and civic values protecting personal rights and freedom, opposed to the absolutism of Western European monarchies, and later, in the 18th century, patriotic values, opposing the growing domination of neighbouring powers over the Commonwealth. The kontusz costume carried precisely these patriotic associations even during the partition period in the 19th century. Few today remember, however, that this Polish national costume originated in the courtly culture of Turkey and Crimea.
In the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, there is another unique socio-cultural phenomenon on a global scale: the Polish-Lithuanian Tatar community. They have lived in the Eastern lands of the Commonwealth since the time of Tamerlane and the Battle of Grunwald, in which they supported Polish-Lithuanian army (1410). Paradoxically, thanks to their particular devotion to their culture and their simultaneous identification with the local society and state, they are today one of the few living remnants both of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Golden Horde.
This community was the subject of an exhibition presented by the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów from September 18,, 2023 to December 2024. The exhibition, titled “This is the Great Light and the Key of Paradise. Hymns from King Sobieski’s Tatar villages”.
