Pirmie Latvijas senatnes un mitoloģijas attēlojumi mākslinieku darbos un to saikne ar arheoloģisko materiālu
The Earliest Depictions of Latvia’s Ancient Past and Mythology in Works of Art and the Connection with Archaeological Material

Summary/Abstract: In the 19th and early 20th century many artists in the Baltic, influenced by archaeological and historical sources, addressed subjects from antiquity or mythology. A passion for studies of the ancient past was stimulated in the 19th century by the romantic world view and the interest in archaeology. The article examines the earliest works reflecting Latvia’s prehistory and mythology, and brings together the material that could have served the artists as examples and sources of inspiration. In the mid 19th century, archaeology as a science was only just beginning to develop in present-day Latvia, and empirical knowledge was still inadequate. The inaccurate reconstructions of ancient dress offered by Professor Friedrich Kruse in 1842 continued to mislead researchers and artists, for a long time to come. The motif of the 'wild man', known in European iconography since the Middle Ages, was still popular at this time; in works by Baltic German and Latvian artists alike, ancient Latvians are frequently shown as savages. We may also note the prevailing conviction among the Baltic Germans in the 19th century of the Germans’ role as 'Kulturträger' ('bringers of culture') in the Baltic, a view that stimulatedantiquarian research and its reflection in art. Friedrich Ludwig von Maydell (1795–1846) was the first to depict the historical events in the Baltic, his lithographs serving as examples for artists of Latvian background from the next generation. The painter Bernhard Borchert (1862–1945) deserves to be mentioned for his romanticised, atmospheric portrayals of the German knights, which provide an insight into the Baltic German cultural world of the late 19th and early 20th century. Among the Latvians, cultural policy and economic development were undoubtedly factors that stimulated a passion for knowledge of the past at the turn of the 20th century. In this period, interest in ancient times was undeniably promoted by national romanticism, which found expression in Latvian art through the aims set out by the Rūķis group of Latvian artists. The fascination with episodes from the prehistory of the Latvian people was stimulated among artists also by the serious attention given to the sequence of historical styles and events at the Imperial Academy of Artsin St Petersburg and the Stieglitz Central School of Technical Drawing. However, the archaeological evidence about the ancient past of the Latvians available to artists at the turn of the 20th century was still very limited. The first noteworthy figure among artists of Latvian background in the second half of the 19th century is painter Jānis Staņislavs Roze (1823–1897), who depicted the historical events of the 12th and 13th century, copying in his paintings the engravings by Maydell. The first of the Latvian artists from the Rūķis generation to depict the prehistory of his people was painter Arturs Baumanis (1867–1904), who maintained the academic style in which he had been trained at the academy. It is known that the artist earnestly studied and sought out evidence of the pre-German period in Latvia. Baumanis can be identified as the first Latvian painter to develop his own view of Latvia’s prehistory, acquainting the public at the turn of the 20th century with the life and milieu of the ancient Latvians. A second late 19th-century artist whose depictions of prehistory stand out among those of contemporaries is Ādams Alksnis (1864–1897). In contrast to Baumanis, he moved towards modernised Academism, and his work is not over-saturated with detail of the setting and people. However, he strove to explore the archaeological material. Alksnis had no tendency to primitivize the people he was depicting; rather, he strove to depict them as real, conscious individuals of their time. The theme of antiquity is also represented in the oeuvre of the painter Janis Rozentāls (1866–1916), who employed a diverse range of styles and techniques. Several of his works display an affinity with Scandinavian art, since Rozentāls admired the major artists of Finland. His interest in Latvian prehistory is reflected in his sketches of ancient artefacts and in the correspondence of the figures he portrays to contemporary ideas in archaeology. Although motifs from Latvian prehistory do not predominate in Rozentāls’ work, he did introduce Art Nouveau aesthetics into the genre. Themes from ancient Latvian history also appear in the oeuvre of Rihards Zariņš (1869–1939) – especially in his prints, created in a markedly conservative, national romantic style. Zariņš was very familiar with archaeological material and applied himselfscrupulously to interpreting it. Although the graphic artist’s depictions of ancient Latvians show a number of errors his work demonstrates an emotional attitude towards tragic and momentous events in the history of his people. Motifs from prehistory appear in sets and costumes by stage designer Jānis Kuga (1878–1969). In order to create fictitious sets that would at the same time resemble as closely as possible the ancient Latvian castles and ethnographic buildings, Kuga studied the wooden architecture of the Russian north and Scandinavia, as well as the Latvian farmsteads. Accordingly, his designs on the theme of Latvian prehistory show more ethnographic than archaeological influence. Assessment of the works examined here leads to the conclusion that the artists not only had an interest in the Latvians’ ancient past, but also wished to create maximally accurate depictions, corresponding as closely as possible to the ancient reality. The artists’ strivings for historical truth can most probably be related to the feeling among educated people of the late 19th and early 20th century that they had a duty to acquaint their compatriots with the past, so that they might take pride in episodes from their history.

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