Nagrobek Jędrzeja Śniadeckiego w Horodnikach pod Oszmianą (1839). Kwestia typu programu ideowego
Jędrzej Śniadecki’s Tomb at Horodniki n. Oszmiana (1839). Questions Related to the Ideological Programme

Summary/Abstract: Jędrzej Śniadecki’s Tomb at Horodniki n. Oszmiana (1839). Questions Related to the Ideological Programme In the paper, an attempt is made to find the answer to whether there exists, and if so, how is it reflected, the connection between a piece a sepulchral art and the deceased. The starting point for the analysis, limited to Polish examples only, was found in the tomb described in the title, preserved at a country cemetery at Horodniki (from 1945 Grodno Province, Belarus). Jędrzej Śniadecki, an illustrious scientist: a chemist, doctor, biologist, and philosopher, was born in 1768. Following his studies in Kraków, Padua, Edinburgh, and Vienna, as of 1797 almost until the end of his life, he was a professor at the Wilno universities. It was also in Wilno that he passed away on 29 April 1838. In compliance with his last will he was buried in the village of Horodniki, within the Bołtup Parish (he actually owned both localities), next to his earlier-deceased wife Konstancja. The tomb commemorating both parents was founded by their son Józef. The monument of white Italian marbles (Carrara) or Greek ones (Dionysos) is shaped as a large urn, almost 1.5 metres high, placed on a pedestal resembling a stocky square pillar (55-cm-long side), which almost equals the urn in height; the pillar itself stands on a several-step plinth. The urn and the pillar are approximately equally wide. The whole work is about 350 cm high, this including the marble cross crowning the urn. The facility is surrounded with a fence of metal bars (Fig.1). Three inscriptions and a coat of arms were hewn in the pillar shaft, the front inscription reading: ‘Jędrzey Śniadecki / URO. 30 LISTO.1768 / + 29. KWJET. 1838’[Jędrzey Śniadecki/ BORN 30 NOV. 1768/ + 29 April 1838]. The right side featured the Leliwa coat of arms on a shield encircled by a laurel wreath. The left side bore the inscription reading: ‘Ku wieczney pamięci / Drogich Rodzicow /przywiązany / Syn / WZNIOSŁ TEN POMNIK / R. 1839 [In everlasting memory/ of my Beloved Parents/ fond/ Son/ RAISED THIS MONUMENT/ 1839]. The back side featured the following inscription: ‘Konstancya / z Mikułowskich / Śniadecka / + 2 WRZES. 1830’ [Konstancyja/ née Mikulowski/ Śniadecka/ + 2 Sept. 1830].The two-partite mass of the tomb seems a well-balanced composition in which both the pedestal and the urn harmoniously coincide. The monument is decorated with bas-relief motifs typical of sepulchral art (winged hourglasses, poppy heads, two crossed torches, ouroboroses, and additionally an unclear butterfly or bee), as well as with a pair of attributes, emphasized due to their size and position (winged rod of Asclepius: doctors’ emblem, and a chemist’s lab). Undoubtedly, both the rod and the lab, shown on the front and back walls of the urn respectively, are the dominant motifs here (Figs. 2-3). The rod is interconnected with the laurel wreath in an original way, making the wreath look as if winged. The chemist’s lab is composed within a tondo, outlined with an ouroboros: a bookcase, a stove with retorts, a barrel-shaped tank, a low cupboard with a spherical vessel on it are all clearly visible. The applied motif of an urn in a tomb was nothing genuine in Neo-Classicism and before. The urn was often accompanied by a statue of a female mourner, with the urn being covered with a pall. In the discussed tomb these elements are missing, most likely in order to allow a better exposition of the attributes of the deceased. Moreover, for this very reason the urn was given a unique shape, since it featured an angular bowl. This solution should be regarded as rather uncommon. The analysis of the monument’s artistic form and the relations of the inscriptions with the representations above them, allows to suppose that originally the tomb was to be dedicated to one person only: the learned man Jędrzej Śniadecki. Jędrzej Śniadecki’s iconography, if limited only to sculpture work, was in majority created after the scientist’s death. It included a small monument (67 cm high) from 1874-75 by Ludwik Kucharzewski, meant for the congress hall of the Medical Society at 9 Niecała Street, Warsaw (Fig. 5). The scientist was presented as a professor giving a lecture, wearing a gown, and bareheaded.To conclude these considerations it is worth recalling a monument of yet another scientist: Father Krzysztof Kluk (1739-96) in Ciechanowiec, executed in sandstone by Jakub Tatarkiewicz in 1847, and unveiled a year later (Fig. 6). Kluk was an illustrious botanist and biologist; in 1787, he was conferred a PhD degree in liberal sciences and philosophy at the Main School. The statue on a high cuboid plinth presents the scientist standing, wearing a gown over a cassock, a book in his left hand, a plant (forged in metal) in his right hand: the one he identified and named as scabiosa inflexa. The plinth features three bas-reliefs related to Kluk’s research with the scenes of individuals working: peasants, gardeners, fishermen, and beekeepers; miners, and steelworkers. In the case of Śniadecki’s statute from 1874-75, the identification of the person and of their job is obvious. It is different when the monument, and particularly the sepulchral one, is devoid of the deceased’s effigy. In their case, only the inscription and the coat of arms allow to deduce who the tomb was raised to commemorate. Furthermore, inscriptions can at times be so concise that only appropriate images point out to who the deceased was. It is worth recalling here e.g. the tombstone of Jan Zamoyski in the Zamość Collegiate Church (after 1606, before 1619), featuring a seal and baton, namely the insignia of the chancellor and grand crown hetman with a coat of arms and an inscription merely with the first name, family name, and death date (Fig. 7). In such pieces of sepulchral art we are dealing with the phenomenon of a peculiar framework topic: the monument’s ideological programme is in a way universal, as it is appropriate for many representatives of the same ‘status’, namely the same profession, office, exerted function, etc. ‘Status’ programmes were implemented in various ways: (1) indirect, as if allusive, and (2) ‘direct’. Among type (1), mention has to be made of the epitaph of the inn keeper Georg Jeschke (d. 1576) in St Elisabeth Church in Wrocław, showing Abraham being visited by three men. Type (2) is extensive, including two subtypes: (A) person at work, and (B) attributes of the job or office, etc. Subtype (A) is represented e.g. by the epitaph of Philippus Callimachus (Veit Stoss, ca. 1502-3, Kraków, Dominican Church), or the tomb of Archdeacon Piotr Gebauer, d. 1646 (Wrocław Cathedral). Callimachus, the secretary of King John I Albert, is portrayed as a vir politicus who, in his study, is checking a newly prepared document of national importance (Fig. 8). Gebauer, in his turn, is shown speaking from the pulpit, since he was a Cathedral preacher for 15 years (Fig. 9). Subtype (B) contains several genres. In the simplest, and most common one, the issue boils down to the costume and the used accessories, which applies both to clergymen and knights (later the military). In another genre we deal with instruments demonstrated by their owners, as e.g. in the tombstone of the blacksmith Nitsch (d, 1625) in Leszno, featuring a standing craftsman, holding a hammer in his right and a pair of pincers in his left hand (Fig. 10). The next genre features merely the attributes, which can be observed not only in the afore-mentioned tombs of Śniadecki or Zamoyski, but also contemporarily. This is testified to by the tomb of the illustrious filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski (d. 1996) at the Old Powązki Cemetery (Krzysztof M. Bednarski, 1997), with two director’s hands framing up a shot (Fig. 11). At times, the attribute does not necessarily define the deceased’s function, but it can testify to his or her oeuvre, accomplishments, etc. The latter is the case of an authentic artillery gun at the Powązki Cemetery placed on the tomb of Jędrzej Węgłowski vel Węglowski (1789-1861), Artillery Major-General of the Russian army, inventor of so-called Węgłowski gun towing trailer (Fig. 12). On other occasions the attribute may not necessarily refer only to the deceased’s profession, but also to an event from his or her biography. To illustrate this variant it is enough to recall an airscrew frequently found on 20th-century tombs, attached to them, occasionally to point out to the pilot’s tragic death. In that case we have to do with an intermediary form between status and biographical programmes that are discussed below. Another genre includes such tombs in which attributes (most frequently books) constitute an element completing the image of the deceased. This complement can either be symbolic or specific. A big-sized, medium, or a small book can either suggest the deceased to have been a clergyman or a pious faithful, the latter most often with respect to a woman. On another occasion, it could have served to point out to the deceased having been a humanist, a man of learning, which has been used to-date in different branches of art, and not only in epitaphs or tombs. It is sometimes the case that the presented book was written by the deceased. Biographical programmes are less elaborate, and also much rarer. Reference to the deceased’s first name or the meaning of their family name can be come across in Protestant epitaphs. For example, in the Wrocław Church of St Elizabeth the epitaph of Józef (Joseph) Rindfleisch (after 1599) features the Biblical scene of Joseph welcoming Jacob with his sons, while that of Fryderyk Scheffer (d. 1607) featured Christ the Good Shepherd (in German, Schäfer means a shepherd). However, in Polish sepulchral and epitaph art there is one unique work showing the cause of the death. In the 1643 epitaph of Jerzy Rudomina and his eight companions who perished in the 1621 battle of Chocim, nine kneeling…beheaded knights were shown (Nowogródek Parish Church; Fig. 13). Other personal contents can be found in monuments from e.g. the turn of the 20th century. In some cases, there are specific dogs lying down on guard: Pluto and Nero guarding the tomb of Józef Iwanowicz (d. 1877) at the Łyczakowski Cemetery in Lwów (Paweł Eutele), or As keeping guard for Adolf Dygasiński (d. 1902) at Warsaw’s Powązki (Czesław Makowski).The above-presented typology of ideological programmes of tombs and epitaphs merely signals the question. It will, however, fulfil its goal if it succeeds to encourage further thorough studies, these also taking into consideration the European context.Jędrzej Śniadecki’s Tomb at Horodniki n. Oszmiana (1839). Questions Related to the Ideological ProgrammeIn the paper, an attempt is made to find the answer to whether there exists, and if so, how is it reflected, the connection between a piece a sepulchral art and the deceased. The starting point for the analysis, limited to Polish examples only, was found in the tomb described in the title, preserved at a country cemetery at Horodniki (from 1945 Grodno Province, Belarus). Jędrzej Śniadecki, an illustrious scientist: a chemist, doctor, biologist, and philosopher, was born in 1768. Following his studies in Kraków, Padua, Edinburgh, and Vienna, as of 1797 almost until the end of his life, he was a professor at the Wilno universities. It was also in Wilno that he passed away on 29 April 1838. In compliance with his last will he was buried in the village of Horodniki, within the Bołtup Parish (he actually owned both localities), next to his earlier-deceased wife Konstancja. The tomb commemorating both parents was founded by their son Józef. The monument of white Italian marbles (Carrara) or Greek ones (Dionysos) is shaped as a large urn, almost 1.5 metres high, placed on a pedestal resembling a stocky square pillar (55-cm-long side), which almost equals the urn in height; the pillar itself stands on a several-step plinth. The urn and the pillar are approximately equally wide. The whole work is about 350 cm high, this including the marble cross crowning the urn. The facility is surrounded with a fence of metal bars (Fig.1). Three inscriptions and a coat of arms were hewn in the pillar shaft, the front inscription reading: ‘Jędrzey Śniadecki / URO. 30 LISTO.1768 / + 29. KWJET. 1838’[Jędrzey Śniadecki/ BORN 30 NOV. 1768/ + 29 April 1838]. The right side featured the Leliwa coat of arms on a shield encircled by a laurel wreath. The left side bore the inscription reading: ‘Ku wieczney pamięci / Drogich Rodzicow /przywiązany / Syn / WZNIOSŁ TEN POMNIK / R. 1839 [In everlasting memory/ of my Beloved Parents/ fond/ Son/ RAISED THIS MONUMENT/ 1839]. The back side featured the following inscription: ‘Konstancya / z Mikułowskich / Śniadecka / + 2 WRZES. 1830’ [Konstancyja/ née Mikulowski/ Śniadecka/ + 2 Sept. 1830].The two-partite mass of the tomb seems a well-balanced composition in which both the pedestal and the urn harmoniously coincide. The monument is decorated with bas-relief motifs typical of sepulchral art (winged hourglasses, poppy heads, two crossed torches, ouroboroses, and additionally an unclear butterfly or bee), as well as with a pair of attributes, emphasized due to their size and position (winged rod of Asclepius: doctors’ emblem, and a chemist’s lab). Undoubtedly, both the rod and the lab, shown on the front and back walls of the urn respectively, are the dominant motifs here (Figs. 2-3). The rod is interconnected with the laurel wreath in an original way, making the wreath look as if winged. The chemist’s lab is composed within a tondo, outlined with an ouroboros: a bookcase, a stove with retorts, a barrel-shaped tank, a low cupboard with a spherical vessel on it are all clearly visible. The applied motif of an urn in a tomb was nothing genuine in Neo-Classicism and before. The urn was often accompanied by a statue of a female mourner, with the urn being covered with a pall. In the discussed tomb these elements are missing, most likely in order to allow a better exposition of the attributes of the deceased. Moreover, for this very reason the urn was given a unique shape, since it featured an angular bowl. This solution should be regarded as rather uncommon. The analysis of the monument’s artistic form and the relations of the inscriptions with the representations above them, allows to suppose that originally the tomb was to be dedicated to one person only: the learned man Jędrzej Śniadecki. Jędrzej Śniadecki’s iconography, if limited only to sculpture work, was in majority created after the scientist’s death. It included a small monument (67 cm high) from 1874-75 by Ludwik Kucharzewski, meant for the congress hall of the Medical Society at 9 Niecała Street, Warsaw (Fig. 5). The scientist was presented as a professor giving a lecture, wearing a gown, and bareheaded.To conclude these considerations it is worth recalling a monument of yet another scientist: Father Krzysztof Kluk (1739-96) in Ciechanowiec, executed in sandstone by Jakub Tatarkiewicz in 1847, and unveiled a year later (Fig. 6). Kluk was an illustrious botanist and biologist; in 1787, he was conferred a PhD degree in liberal sciences and philosophy at the Main School. The statue on a high cuboid plinth presents the scientist standing, wearing a gown over a cassock, a book in his left hand, a plant (forged in metal) in his right hand: the one he identified and named as scabiosa inflexa. The plinth features three bas-reliefs related to Kluk’s research with the scenes of individuals working: peasants, gardeners, fishermen, and beekeepers; miners, and steelworkers. In the case of Śniadecki’s statute from 1874-75, the identification of the person and of their job is obvious. It is different when the monument, and particularly the sepulchral one, is devoid of the deceased’s effigy. In their case, only the inscription and the coat of arms allow to deduce who the tomb was raised to commemorate. Furthermore, inscriptions can at times be so concise that only appropriate images point out to who the deceased was. It is worth recalling here e.g. the tombstone of Jan Zamoyski in the Zamość Collegiate Church (after 1606, before 1619), featuring a seal and baton, namely the insignia of the chancellor and grand crown hetman with a coat of arms and an inscription merely with the first name, family name, and death date (Fig. 7). In such pieces of sepulchral art we are dealing with the phenomenon of a peculiar framework topic: the monument’s ideological programme is in a way universal, as it is appropriate for many representatives of the same ‘status’, namely the same profession, office, exerted function, etc. ‘Status’ programmes were implemented in various ways: (1) indirect, as if allusive, and (2) ‘direct’. Among type (1), mention has to be made of the epitaph of the inn keeper Georg Jeschke (d. 1576) in St Elisabeth Church in Wrocław, showing Abraham being visited by three men. Type (2) is extensive, including two subtypes: (A) person at work, and (B) attributes of the job or office, etc. Subtype (A) is represented e.g. by the epitaph of Philippus Callimachus (Veit Stoss, ca. 1502-3, Kraków, Dominican Church), or the tomb of Archdeacon Piotr Gebauer, d. 1646 (Wrocław Cathedral). Callimachus, the secretary of King John I Albert, is portrayed as a vir politicus who, in his study, is checking a newly prepared document of national importance (Fig. 8). Gebauer, in his turn, is shown speaking from the pulpit, since he was a Cathedral preacher for 15 years (Fig. 9). Subtype (B) contains several genres. In the simplest, and most common one, the issue boils down to the costume and the used accessories, which applies both to clergymen and knights (later the military). In another genre we deal with instruments demonstrated by their owners, as e.g. in the tombstone of the blacksmith Nitsch (d, 1625) in Leszno, featuring a standing craftsman, holding a hammer in his right and a pair of pincers in his left hand (Fig. 10). The next genre features merely the attributes, which can be observed not only in the afore-mentioned tombs of Śniadecki or Zamoyski, but also contemporarily. This is testified to by the tomb of the illustrious filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski (d. 1996) at the Old Powązki Cemetery (Krzysztof M. Bednarski, 1997), with two director’s hands framing up a shot (Fig. 11). At times, the attribute does not necessarily define the deceased’s function, but it can testify to his or her oeuvre, accomplishments, etc. The latter is the case of an authentic artillery gun at the Powązki Cemetery placed on the tomb of Jędrzej Węgłowski vel Węglowski (1789-1861), Artillery Major-General of the Russian army, inventor of so-called Węgłowski gun towing trailer (Fig. 12). On other occasions the attribute may not necessarily refer only to the deceased’s profession, but also to an event from his or her biography. To illustrate this variant it is enough to recall an airscrew frequently found on 20th-century tombs, attached to them, occasionally to point out to the pilot’s tragic death. In that case we have to do with an intermediary form between status and biographical programmes that are discussed below. Another genre includes such tombs in which attributes (most frequently books) constitute an element completing the image of the deceased. This complement can either be symbolic or specific. A big-sized, medium, or a small book can either suggest the deceased to have been a clergyman or a pious faithful, the latter most often with respect to a woman. On another occasion, it could have served to point out to the deceased having been a humanist, a man of learning, which has been used to-date in different branches of art, and not only in epitaphs or tombs. It is sometimes the case that the presented book was written by the deceased. Biographical programmes are less elaborate, and also much rarer. Reference to the deceased’s first name or the meaning of their family name can be come across in Protestant epitaphs. For example, in the Wrocław Church of St Elizabeth the epitaph of Józef (Joseph) Rindfleisch (after 1599) features the Biblical scene of Joseph welcoming Jacob with his sons, while that of Fryderyk Scheffer (d. 1607) featured Christ the Good Shepherd (in German, Schäfer means a shepherd). However, in Polish sepulchral and epitaph art there is one unique work showing the cause of the death. In the 1643 epitaph of Jerzy Rudomina and his eight companions who perished in the 1621 battle of Chocim, nine kneeling…beheaded knights were shown (Nowogródek Parish Church; Fig. 13). Other personal contents can be found in monuments from e.g. the turn of the 20th century. In some cases, there are specific dogs lying down on guard: Pluto and Nero guarding the tomb of Józef Iwanowicz (d. 1877) at the Łyczakowski Cemetery in Lwów (Paweł Eutele), or As keeping guard for Adolf Dygasiński (d. 1902) at Warsaw’s Powązki (Czesław Makowski).The above-presented typology of ideological programmes of tombs and epitaphs merely signals the question. It will, however, fulfil its goal if it succeeds to encourage further thorough studies, these also taking into consideration the European context.

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