Allegorical Ekphrases of the Hall of Fame in Baroque Encomiums by Samuel Twardowski and Samuel Leszczyński

Summary The article begins with an overview of the best known descriptions of palaces and temples in classical and Biblical literature. It is followed by a brief survey of the rhetorical rules associated with the ekphrasis of notable buildings, palaces, and other architectural wonders. After noting the importance of such description in the study of literature from classical antiquity until the Early Modern Age, the article focuses on two encomiums of the 17th century, Samuel Twardowski’s Leszczyński Palace (1643) and Samuel Leszczyński’s A Classicum of immortal Fame (1674). In both poems the encomium is fused with an allegorical ekphrasis of an imaginary Hall of Fame. While either of the two poems abounds in highly vivid descriptions, Leszczyński’s owes a great deal to the descriptive strategies and rhetoric of the elder poet. His ambition, though, was to outdo Twardowski. Leszczyński’s poetic hall with its allegories is a Baroque extravaganza, extolling not just one noble family but the glory of the Polish nation at large.