In the late Middle Ages, popular romances and knight poems, as well as legends from the north, had an enormous influence on court culture. On their basis, court customs developed, an essential aspect of which was an image of ideal love. This was reflected in the ceremonies glorifying the figure of a lady. The decoration of a small case from the 2^nd quarter of the 14^th century is some kind of interpretation of the medieval world-view, centred around courtly love, which — interestingly — was an ethical problem. Its moralistic and didactic themes, having literary sources, evoked good and bad examples of behaviour, building the principles of proper behaviour.

The depiction of Christ in Gethsemane appeared three times in the works currently attributed to Veit Stoss. The theme itself is one of the scenes in the iconography of the Passion. It was widely used in the 2^nd half of the 15^th century in the art of South Germany. This event was described in the gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke. Christ is shown praying in Gethsemane (the olive garden) at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, accompanied by three sleeping apostles: St. John, St. Peter, and St. James.

The painting, Triptych of Saint Mary Magdalene, from Moszczenica Niżna near Stary Sącz is preserved in a rare state of completeness. The essence of the retable can be investigated based on this example.
At the end of the 15^th century, the retable constituted an expanded structure composed of an immovable main panel, the movable wings attached to it; a predella, which served as a basis for the wings, the main panel, and a finial.

The Włocławek reliquary (also known as the Kruszwica reliquary) was created in the 2^nd quarter of the 12^th century, supposedly in Swabia. It is linked to the Zwiefalten workshop. The exhibit is in the form of a rectangular low chest on four legs made of oak wood and covered with a copper sheet decorated with champlevé (blue, fair blue, white and green), engraved and gilded. 

Until 1968, the shrine stood by a rural road. Its principal part was made of a thick pine trunk, and the figure of Pensive Christ of lime wood. The shrine is crowned with a sloping roof, its front supported with two columns. The pillar has been preserved only partially. Pensive Christ is represented here as Christ the King, as a royal crown sits on top of the sculpture rather than a crown of thorns.

Small-sized wooden sculpture of the 19^th century from the area of the Polish Podtarze region, depicting Pensive Christ. It cost one crown and in 1914 it was purchased in Nowy Targ by Ksawery Prauss, a collector from Zakopane. In 1920, he donated his collection to the Tatra Museum and thus the sculpture, along with 93 other ethnographic objects from Podhale, became part of the museum collection.

The icon comes from an Orthodox church in Maciejowa, a village located between Nowy Sącz and Krynica. This type of presentation named Pokrov depicts the Mother of God, who is extending a veil over the world, which is hanging from her outstretched arms over figures clustered at her feet. Two legends are the sources of this theme.

The relief with the scene of Christ’s Prayer in Gethsemane is dated from 1493–1495. It came to the church in Ptaszkowa (erected in 1555), presumably in the first half of the 19th century, where it was also discovered. It is considered to be the handiwork of Veit Stoss.
Today, this sculptor is considered to be the most famous Nuremberg-Kraków artist. He came from Horb am Neckar, situated in the then so-called Further Austria. Born in 1438, he died in 1533, at the age of 95. He created works in the late Gothic style, mainly around religious themes. In 1477, he resigned from Nuremberg citizenship and moved to Kraków – at that time, the capital of the Kingdom of Poland.

The evolution of iconography, from the instilling of an idea, its crystallisation in worship, to its materialisation in art is a long and complicated process. The example of the Protection of the Mother of God shows how creativity could develop a theme based on one idea; the idea in which the East and the West found a common source, and through the interpretation of which their paths diverged with time.