The article focuses on the first Polish film in which the figure of Bona Sforza appeared, namely Barbara Radziwiłłówna, created by Józef Lejtes, a well-known director, in 1936. Moreover, it discusses the circumstances in which the film was made, and the image of the queen presented therein. Numerous comments which appeared in the press, both contemporary and of a later period, have been recalled.
In this article, the history of Bona Sforza is examined in the context of the relations between the European states of the first half of the 16th century, that is, the Empire of Charles V and the Catholic Monarchy and of Philip II in particular. The Queen of Poland and Duchess of Bari attempted to play a leading role in the international relations of the epoch, but she had to succumb to the wishes of the two Habsburgs, interested in regaining control over the Duchy of Bari and forming anti-Turkish alliances with Sigismondo II of Poland, a son of Bona.
The article is a review of Andrea Colelli (ed.), C. Carmignano: Viaggio della Serenissima S. Bona Regina in Polonia, con nota introduttiva di Luigi Marinelli. Roma, 2018. While discussing this edition, it includes proposals concerning the intertextual dimension of the poem, drawing attention to the similarities between the first ‘capitulo’ of the poem and Joannes Secundus’s elegy I 8, both texts being denied as epithalamia.
The main goal of the article is to examine how queen Bona Sforza’s taste and interest in fashion has been influenced by her nearest milieu – including her mother, Isabella of Aragon – since her childhood in Italy and until her arrival in Poland. In the first part of the text, the author seeks to obtain an answer to the question of how the Renaissance fashion could influence Bona’s look and garments. The author proposes her own translations of several sources which shed new light on the subject. The description of wedding celebrations written by Giuliano Passero, Giuliano Passero cittadino napoletano o sia prima pubblicazione in istampa, delle Storie in forma di Giornali (Napoli, 1785) is especially important for this article. The new translation of this text differs occasionally from that published by Władysław Pociecha several years ago. In the second part of this article, the author analyses ceremonial dress and jewellery which we can see on the earliest preserved portrait of Bona, painted most likely in Italy, around 1518. The woodcut, included in Jost Ludwik Decjusz’s De Sigismundi regis temporibus liber III in 1521, could not precisely depict the facial features and details of the young queen’s apparel.
The book is a commentary on the second trip that Tommaso Fiore made to Poland in 1953. He enthusiastically confronts what he considers to be enormous progress in comparison to his first visit (1948). Moreover, while speaking with some representatives of Polish society, he explores various topics, such as agriculture, the state-religion relationship, or the freedom of intellectuals. The text is a rare and detailed account of what was the Poland of the 1950s as seen from the perspective of a great historian.