Regum vultus imagine regnorum legitur: Motiejaus Kazimiero Sarbievijaus eilės Žygimantui ir Vladislovui Vazoms: tobulo valdovo vizija

ENThe purpose of this article is to examine how the most eminent 17th-century poet of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to have written in Latin, Mathias Casimirus Sarbievius depicted the rulers Sigismund Vasa (Lit. Žygimantas Vaza, Pol. Zygmunt III Waza, King of Poland, 1587-1632, and Grand Duke of Lithuania, 1588-1632) and Ladislaus Vasa (Lit. Vladislovas Vaza, Pol. Władysław IV Waza, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, 1632-1648) in his works, and just what model of an ideal ruler he proposed to these kings in his dedicated works and his poetry in general. Sarbievius dedicated quite a few works of prose to several famous figures of the age, including the rulers of Poland- Lithuania: Ladislaus Vasa (Lyric. I, 15; II, 28; III, 10; TV, 38) being somewhat more honoured in this manner than Sigismund (Lyric. II, 22). Some other odes where the actual addressee is not identified (e.g., To the nobility of Poland and Lithuania - Lyric. IV, 36, Dispraise for the inactivity of the times - Lyric. I, 16; Cato the politician - Lyric. II, 6) may be considered as indirectly dedicated to the ruler or referring to the mission and/or duties he is*obliged to enact. In terms of Sarbievius’ prose dedicated to Lithuania’s rulers, rules for the composition of panegyrics were applied, rules which were promulgated during poetry and rhetoric lectures in Jesuit schools in the early 17th century in which flctio played an important role in poetic ingenuity and imagination. The philosophical ideas of the Baroque period featured more prominently in his other works: the temporality of this mortal life and the longing for eternity, the volatility of fate, and the search for inner peace and strength and their value.All of Sarbievius’ works both directly and indirectly dedicated to the rulers make up a seperate prose cycle. In it, the ruler is portrayed as an axis around which the country’s life revolves, where he is the guarantee of others’ wellbeing, the thread uniting all layers of society. It is as if an external and inner programme for the ideal ruler is formulated in Sarbievius’ poetry: an ingenious, insightful and courageous defender from external enemies that are most often symbolized by Muslim (Turkish) soldiers; the unifier of two nations - Lithuanians and Poles; as well as a sage capable of controlling his passions and flaws, undetered by the rigours of life.