The book deals with the relations between Polish and European culture from the 14th to the 20th century in the domains of fine arts, sculpture, architecture, music, drama and theatre. It features ten studies by Polish authors and provides a perfect factual introduction into history of art and culture in Europe.

This first monograph of the life and œuvre of Marcin Mielczewski (d. 1651) sets it in the context of musical life at the courts of the Polish Vasas, particularly King Ladislaus IV and Bishop Charles Ferdinand. Much attention is devoted to the evidence of the reception of Mielczewski’s music in seventeenth-century Europe.