The tomb of Bishop Piotr of Bnin (d. 1494) in his cathedral of Włocławek in Kuyavia, a work of Veit Stoss (c. 1438? – 1533) dated 1493, is a wall cenotaph in the form of a truncated cuboid with a rectangular base. The top slab, bearing an effigy of the deceased, is inclined at an angle of 42 degrees. This shape of monument, as well as the inscription presented by two deacons and engraved on its front wall, did not occur in medieval funerary sculpture north of the Alps. The inscription clearly states that the monument was commissioned by Filippo Buonaccorsi, called Callimachus (1437–1496), and offered as a gift to his friend, the Bishop of Włocławek. In fact, close ties connected this Italian poet, writer and politician – established in Poland since 1469 – with Piotr of Bnin. It has been aptly observed that the origin of the particular form of the Włocławek tomb and the composition of its anterior part can be explained only by the influence which the Italian founder of the monument exerted on the choice of model.

Some Italian parallels of the tomb of Piotr of Bnin have already been cited; its roots in the Trecento and Quattrocento funerary sculpture, however, have never been studied in detail, and the present essay offers a survey of monuments which might throw more light on this question. The main characteristic of the Włocławek cenotaph is its top slab with the figure of the deceased tilted towards the viewer. This device appeared in Italy in the late Middle Ages in a large number of variations. Among its examples is a group of wall tombs in the form of a truncated cuboid, with the top slab occupied by a bas-relief of the figure of the deceased lying supine. The monument to Piotr of Bnin shows a close dependence on this group. The front wall of the Włocławek tomb bearing the two figures, who present the inscription, was inspired by similar compositions in Italian funerary sculpture. Its immediate model, however, should rather be sought in Roman monuments, where the two figures in question have been placed in rectangular recesses hollowed out in the thickness of the slab. At the same time, the effigy of Piotr of Bnin – carved in high relief and deeply undercut – remains faithful to the art of the Upper Rhineland that shaped the style of Veit Stoss. The monument to this bishop is thus a work marked by two artistic traditions.

In Poland, there still exist seven sixteenth-century wall tombs in the form of truncated cuboid and one can assume that the monument to Piotr of Bnin was a model of this particular typological family.