Artibus et Historiae no. 93 (XLVII)

2026, ISSN 0391-9064

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Aleksandra LIPIŃSKA, Uliana NAUMENKO, Tanita CIESIELSKA, Marek WALCZAK, Wolfram KLOPPMANN - Imported or Local? Refining the Geography of Late Medieval and Early Modern Alabaster Sculpture in Present-Day Poland and Ukraine with Isotopic Fingerprinting (pp. 9–38)

Recent multi-isotopic fingerprinting studies of European alabaster sculptures have emerged as a crucial method for determining the provenance of raw material in sculpture. The study applies strontium, oxygen, and sulphur isotopes analysis to characterise alabaster sources from the Carpathian Foredeep. While traditional art historical methods rely on stylistic and documentary evidence, geochemical techniques used in the study provide another means of attribution, offering new insights into the trade and mobility of alabaster across Central and Eastern Europe. The paper examines alabaster deposits along with artworks, between Lviv (Ukr. Львів, Pl. Lwów; UA) and Cracow (PL), and compares their isotopic signatures to establish raw material origins. Preliminary findings clarify existing knowledge about artistic imports and local production, and challenge a long-held assumption that alabaster production in the region started only in the second half of the sixteenth century. It proves that alabaster was sourced locally at least from around 1400 with the example of the St Hyacinth Madonna from the Dominican Museum in Cracow and an early-sixteenth century portal in St Bartholomew church in Drohobych (Ukr. Дрогобич, Pol. Drohobycz; UA). Amassed data suggests a complex network of not only regional production, but also occasional importation exemplified by the Hyacinthian Madonna in Przemyśl (PL). Moreover, the integration of isotopic fingerprinting with archival research highlights the role of itinerant sculptors, such as Herman van Hutte and Hendrik Horst, who leased alabaster quarries playing a significant part in controlling trade of the material. Interdisciplinary approach to the analysis refines the understanding of material choices, economic factors, and artistic preferences that shaped alabaster use in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By employing geochemical methods alongside traditional art-historical analysis, the study broadens the understanding of medieval and early modern alabaster production in Europe by introducing its easternmost outpost into the landscape.



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