Modusy ekfrazy: sieneński kondotier Simone Martiniego oczami Zbigniewa Herberta i Gustawa Herlinga-Grudzińskiego
Modes of Ekphrasis: Simone Martini’s Fresco of the Commander of the Sienese Troops as Seen by Zbigniew Herbert and Gustaw Herling-Grudziński

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on describing a work of art in an essay. It presents the form of ekphrasis and the method of interartistic analysis, as well as underlines the efficiency of the translatological perspective (e.g. intersemiotic translation) in the study of the phenomenon of ekphrasis. As a starting point for the analysis and interpretation of fragments of Herbert’s and Herling’s essays, the article presents Martnini’s Guidoriccio da Fogliano at the siege of Montemassi from the perspective of art history. Next, it discusses the verbal accounts of the painting put forward by Herbert and Herling, examining their contents and poetics and paying attention to the character of the description they propose. The description may focus either on the subject or on the viewer, either on the representation itself or on its connotations. Accordingly, it is suggested that the corresponding modes of ekphrasis should be labelled ‘denotational’ and ‘connotational’. The aim is to present concrete realizations of ekphrasis and characteristic modes of perceiving and writing about a work of art, as well as to show how the subjective perspective of the observer (describing, commenting, interpreting) and the idiomatic style of expression are manifested.

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