Pierre de RONSARDin the latter. He returned to Poland
(1559) with a thorough knowledge of classical and Italian
literature and a sympathy with Renaissance literary ideals,
which until then he had expressed only in his accom-
plished Latin verse. His Foricoena, not published until
1584, dates from this period, as do his Latin lyrics and el-
egies. Attaching himself to the court, where he attained
(1567) the position of royal secretary, Kochanowski began
to write in Polish as well as Latin. His Szachy (c. 1566) is
based on the mock-heroic Scacchia Ludus by Marco Giro-
lamo VIDA. In 1570 he retired from the court to settle on
an estate at Czarnolas, where he farmed and wrote some
of the masterpieces of Renaissance Polish verse; his work
refined the language, exercising a formative influence
upon the vernacular and upon later poets. Treny (1580) is
a cycle of laments for his infant daughter Urszula (died
1579). Fraski (Trifles; 1584) is a collection of sparkling
epigrams. Pies ́ni (Songs; 1586) is much influenced by the
odes of Horace, as are his lyrical renderings of the psalms.
He wrote one verse play, Odprawa poslów greckich (The
Dismissal of the Greek envoys: 1578) based on an incident
in the third book of the Iliad and modeled on the lines of
classical Greek tragedy.
Kolman family See HELMSCHMIED FAMILY
Kraft, Adam (Adam Krafft) (c. 1460–1508/09) German
sculptor
Kraft’s work was all produced in his native Nuremberg,
where he was given the most prestigious commissions. He
was a close friend of Peter Vischer the Elder (see VISCHER
FAMILY). As a stone carver he worked in the late Gothic
style, but with a new realism and expressiveness and par-
ticular clarity and simplicity. All these qualities are appar-
ent in his seven reliefs of the Stations of the Cross near the
entrance to St. John’s church (1505–08). His best-known
work is the tabernacle in the church of St. Lawrence
(1493–96), for which he made not only the sculptures but
also the whole imaginative architectural edifice—a kind of
tiered spire about 62 feet (19 meters) high. Among the nu-
merous figures of humans and animals decorating it are
portraits of Kraft and two apprentices, kneeling and sup-
porting the base of the structure.
Krumper, Hans (Hans Krumpper) (c. 1570–1634)
German sculptor, architect, and painter
Born at Weilheim, he joined the court of Duke Wilhelm V
in Munich in 1584, and became a pupil of the sculptor
Hubert GERHARD. He was sent to Italy to complete his
training (1590–92). In 1599 he succeeded Frederik SUS-
TRISas court architect and artistic director (having already
married his daughter). Wilhelm’s successor, Duke Maxim-
ilian I, appointed him also court painter (1609), although
Krumper’s chief assignment at this time was to oversee the
alterations to the Munich palace (the Residenz). He
worked in the mannerist style, producing not only sculp-
ture, but also many designs for goldsmiths (lamps, altars,
reliquaries, etc.).Kulmbach, Hans Suess von (1475/80–1522) German
painter
About 1500 he left his native Kulmbach for Nuremberg,
where he studied in Dürer’s workshop and was also influ-
enced by the visiting Venetian artist Jacopo de’ BARBARI. In
1511 Kulmbach obtained citizenship of his adopted town
and became an independent artist. As a young man, he
collaborated with DÜRERin designing woodcuts, and after
1508 he designed numerous stained-glass windows.
When Dürer gave up the execution of altarpieces in 1510,
Kulmbach emerged as a major painter of triptychs. Of his
dozen or so altarpieces, three were exported to Cracow in
Poland. He also painted a number of portraits of consider-
able charm. Next to BALDUNG GRIEN, Kulmbach was
Dürer’s most important pupil, with a personal style quite
distinct from that of his master.Kyd, Thomas (Thomas Kid) (1558–1594) English
playwright
Kyd was the son of a London scrivener, who sent him to
the Merchant Taylors’ school (1565); he seems, for a time
at least, to have followed his father’s profession, though
the details of his life are obscure and what information
there is often derives from the gossip of Kyd’s contempo-
raries on the London literary scene. His claim to fame is
the Senecan-based Spanish Tragedy (1594). It was proba-
bly written in the middle of the decade 1582–92 and ush-
ered in the Elizabethan vogue for revenge tragedies. The
melodramatic plot, violent actions, overwrought emo-
tions, and murderous finale, along with such devices as
the madness of the hero, appealed strongly to the contem-
porary audience, both in England and in Continental Eu-
rope; the play is also well constructed and its hero,
Jeronimo, is a genuinely moving figure. Kyd also wrote a
tragedy on the subject of Cornelia (1594), and Soliman
and Perseda (c. 1592) is ascribed to him. His possible con-
nection with the so-called Ur-Hamlet (see HAMLET) has
aroused much speculation.
Further reading: Lucas Erne (ed.), Beyond The Span-
ish Tragedy: A Study of the Plays of Thomas Kyd (Man-
chester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, 2002).22668 8 KKoollmmaann ffaammiillyy