Etching of a civet by Jan Ziarnko made in Paris, France

The etching of a civet bears the author’s signature in the lower left-hand corner: Joannes Ziarn:. On the back of the print is an inscription in Latin stating that the work was dedicated to the royal perfumer and another signature of the author, this time additionally bearing the word "POLON[us]."
The connection between the subject of the depiction - an African animal resembling a combination of a cat and a weasel - and the dedication of the work to the royal perfumer may seem surprising today. In fact, the civet may have been considered an emblem of the profession. The secretions of the animal's scent glands were formerly used to make perfumes, just as musk was later used.
The inscriptions placed by the author on this etching also convey some important information about him. Few documents related to his life and career have survived to the present day, but scholars have managed to establish some of the most important facts, and we also have his surviving works, which can also tell us something about the artist's life.
The date of his birth is estimated on the basis of records in archival books, stating that Jan Ziarnko belonged to the Lviv guild of Catholic painters in 1596. He must have been over 20 years old at the time, so he was probably born around 1575. He was the son of the master carpenter Marcin.
The Lviv court records tell us that he went on an artistic journey around 1598, while the first print made in Paris based on his drawing was made in 1605. The last one bearing his signature was made in 1629, so it is assumed that he died around 1630 in Paris. We know that he worked for customers associated with the royal court, and was among the most prominent printmakers active in the first decades of the 17th century. He drew and engraved portraits, books illustrations , genre scenes, allegories, biblical and historical scenes, views of cities.
He signed his works with the Polish or French versions of his name, Jan Ziarnko or Jean le Grain, sometimes, like in the engraving with the civet, adding the term POLONUS.

Projects of POLONIKA Institute
- 2021 - Strategic Program RESEARCH - publication of the book "Jan Ziarnko czy Jean le Grain. Twórczość lwowskiego artysty w XVII-wiecznym Paryżu" / [Jan ZIarnko or Jean le Grain? The work of an artist from Lviv in the 17-th century Paris] by Małgorzata Biłozór-Salwa