Choices in the Face of Eternity According to “The Orphan” Radziwiłł's Carving “The Tree of Human Life”

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Abstract

The aim of the article is to examine the carving ARBOR HUMANAE VITAE (“The Tree of Human Life”), conceived by Mikołaj Krzysztof “The Orphan” Radziwiłł and carved by the Antwerp engraver Theodoor Galle, from the perspective of the Chris- tian concept of time. This study builds on my previous research published in the journal AAAV,1 which discussed the carving’s iconography, its relation to Latin texts, and the issue of authorial invention. The article aims to highlight the crucial shifts in human life emphasized in the work and the pursuit of eternity, both important for understanding the concepts of age (aevum) and eternity (aeternus) during the Baroque era. It seeks to unravel the values and concepts of human life as encoded in the carving, focusing on the personality of the nobleman Mikołaj Krzysztof “The Orphan” Radziwiłł. The article is structured into several segments: “The Two-Stemmed Tree – An Allegory of the Rich and the Poor,” “Human Life – The Quest for a Heavenly Homeland,” “Death and Funerals,” “The Grave and the Monument – The Keeper of Human Memory,” and “The Resurrection of Man and Eternal Life.” These sections explore Radziwiłł’s personality, his life choices and priorities. The discussion relies on 17th-century sources directly related to Radziwiłł, including “The Rise of the Radziwiłłs,” written for his inauguration (1604), and the funerary sermon by Jesuit Jan Aland commemorating the anniversary of his death (1617). The article attempts to connect the biographical details and personal characteristics mentioned in these texts with the copper carving, which serves as the visual document of this study. The novelty of the research lies in linking visual material with contemporary written sources, thus contextualizing the carving within the environment of the Radziwiłłs and expanding the contemplation of human life in Baroque art. Mikołaj Krzysztof “The Orphan” Radziwiłł sought to exemplify a virtuous life. Born into a wealthy family, he sought to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and secure eternal life through his virtuous deeds and acts of charity. When discussing the life of “The Orphan” Radziwiłł, the importance of his burial place emerges as a significant choice for an early 17th-century nobleman and as an important commemorative sign influenced and partially determined by the individual himself. The church of Nesvizh serves as the place of eternal memory for Mikołaj Krzysztof “The Orphan” Radziwiłł. Here, his tombstone appears to extend his life, “speaking” through its inscriptions about the temporality of life and, simultaneously, its continuity.