Po czym poznać błazna? Postacie komiczne na kartach tytułowych polskich druków z XVI i XVII w.

The article shows how fools are represented in European visual culture – and how that representation fits in with the general (including literary) perception of the court jester. The main point of focus is the graphic design of the comic characters in Polish prints from the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Aesop, Marcolf, and Till Eulenspiegel. Conventional ways of depicting this type of character are then compared to the xylograph of a jester contained by the titular page of Pamiątka nagrobna Samuela Głowy (Samuel Głowa’s Memorial) by Stanisław Grochowski. The relations between image and text, the ambiguous status of the protagonist of Grochowski’s work, and the play on the reader’s habits are proof of the unique nature of the print among Polish poetry of the 16th and 17th centuries.