The Evolution of the Image of Nature in Icon Painting in Poland in the Modern Age Cover Image
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Ewolucja obrazu natury w malarstwie ikonowym na terenie Polski w epoce nowożytnej
The Evolution of the Image of Nature in Icon Painting in Poland in the Modern Age

Author(s): Michał Janocha
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: icon painting; orthodox art; nature in painting; deification; occidentalisation; symbolism; realism; religious and secular painting; East-West meeting
Summary/Abstract: In classic icon painting, like in modern European painting, the image of nature is juxtaposed with the image of man. But – like in a baroque rhetorical figure – both oppositions are opposite. In modern painting the figure of man often represents transience, whereas nature – persistence. In icon painting it is nature that is ephemeral and the figure of man is deified and eternal. The dissertation shows the evolution of the image of nature in icon painting between the 15th and 18th centuries. Under the influence of Polish painting nature loses its ephemeral qualities and evolves from symbolism to realism. In the 18th century the image of nature in icon painting does not differ from the one in Polish religious and secular art. It is the reflection of the wider process of occidentalisation of orthodox art in modern times, which occurred at the meeting of the East and West.

  • Page Range: 181-197
  • Page Count: 17
  • Publication Year: 2020
  • Language: Polish