The capital of Poland until almost the end of the 16th century was Krakow, and the seat of the Polish kings was Wawel Castle. It's a large castle in the center of the city on Wawel Hill situated on a curve of the Vistula River. Polish King Sigismund II Augustus ordered decorative fabric paintings for this particular castle from Belgium, with which palace walls were decorated in those days. The name Arras comes from the city in Belgium where the most famous of them were made. They illustrate a wide variety of stories in several main themes: biblical (the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, and the Introducing of the First Parents) landscape and animal motifs or coats of arms (the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania). These are very expensive works, and owning such fabrics was considered a luxury. The largest of them is "Paradise Happiness" has 42m2 and is the size of a small apartment! Created to the size of a specific room, it hung in a royal bedroom. Creating such a wall decoration was very expensive and time-consuming - it took up to 16 months! They were woven from wool, silk, silver and gold threads. And how much did they cost? They were so expensive that the king, fearing his subjects' reaction to the cost, had the bills burned. It is estimated that he had as many as 160 such fabrics in his collection.