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As represented in Balkan cinema – and here we mainly look at cinematic texts created in the context of former Yugoslavia’s constituent republics -- the artist is suspect. The presence of the artist is awkwardly tolerated – because the artist is alien, cosmopolitan, and extraneous. He may react in unpredictable ways or have eccentric wishes. The artist may seek fame but no fame can come. The artist is insufficiently Balkan. He is better off being abroad. Even where films put the artist in the centre of attention, there is indolent insufficiency in representing the artist. In this playful exploration, we look at various cinematic texts that have provided commentary on the status of the artist in a Balkan context. The concept of ‘Balkan’ used here is not a geographical category but rather complies with the definition given in my book Cinema of Flames (2001) as well as, occasionally, is used in the sense implied by Marina Abramovic in her short Balkan Erotic Epic (2011).
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The paper discusses the construction of the concept of the oriental woman (the exotic “other” woman) in West European paintings and literature. It analyses the ways and means through which “Eastern erotica” develops into a cultural mythologem as well as the reasons why the erotic is increasingly used in the construction of the concept of the exotic in West European art in the 18th and 19th century. What is also given thought and careful consideration is the specificity of the Romantic notions of exoticism and exotic local colour (exotisme et couleur locale exotique).
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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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Portrait of the Commander of a Defeated Army: Remarks on the Iconography of General Józef Dwernicki This portrait, which occupies an important place in the iconography of General Józef Dwernicki (1779–1857), was painted, most probably in 1832 in Paris, by Jean François Gigoux, a highly respected artist of the period. In time, the picture made its way to the Louvre. The work represents a particular portrait type which glorifies the commander of a defeated army, an iconographic presentation defined in Polish art by the art historian Andrzej Ryszkiewicz, a consummate expert on the art of portraiture. The use of this presentation formula was fully justified, as Dwernicki was one of the officers who led the Polish drive for independence, the November Uprising against Russia, which was duly suppressed in 1831. In the Polish collective memory, however, the general remained first and foremost the architect of the military victory at Stoczek. Gigoux’s painting was almost unknown in Poland. Nevertheless, it did influence, primarily in formal terms, the development of Dwernicki’s iconography. References to it abound in a group of his representations, which includes paintings, prints, and even several sculptures. The research into old Polish collections, now held in Lviv, Ukraine, has revealed a previously unknown portrait of General Dwernicki. This is a second version of Gigoux’s portrait, signed by the painter, like the Louvre picture. The French artist must have thought very highly this work, since he kept the picture in his private collection. The version owned by Dwernicki reached Lwów together with the general, who settled there upon his return from forced emigration in 1848. In due course, it ended up in the Historical Museum of the City of Lwów, which was transformed into Lviv Historical Museum in 1940.
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Iconography of Wall Painting in Greater Poland Wooden Churches in the Post-Partition Period The cultural landscape of Greater Poland is co-created by numerous examples of sacral wooden architecture. There are 290 historic wooden churches, some dozens of which still date back to the 15th – 17th century. In 99 of them historic wall decoration has been preserved; fifty-three of them are complexes from the partition periods. The basis for the iconography analysis is to be found in 27 sets of paintings containing figural motifs (as well as emblematic and symbolic ones) preserved almost exclusively in rural Catholic churches. The remaining, merely ornamental furnishing of sacral interiors is most frequently made up of pattern-based compositions of decorative character, devoid of any ideological message. Two oldest decorations with figural motifs date back to the early 19th century. In 19 churches paintings from 1890-1915 have been preserved. Chronologically varied programmes of wall paintings of the post-partition period differ from the older ones (16th – 18th c.) by a clearly smaller number of figural motifs. Earlier typically elaborate narrative cycles had disappeared. The iconographic expression of painterly decoration generally boils down to one or several single autonomized representations. In those reduced figural programmes a slow process of breaking with the traditional image conventions, present until the end of the 3rd quarter of the 19th century is revealed. Local artists, still trained in the guild system, when choosing iconographic motifs referred to the repertory of models that was well known to them. In many a case the permanence of the traditional iconographic schemes directly resulted from the faithfulness to the regulations of the Canonical Law describing presentations, particularly those of dogmatic character, in a detailed way. In the last quarter of the 19th century in the iconographic programmes of painterly wall decorations of the Greater Poland Province clearer symptoms of the impact of the programme of the religious life renewal proclaimed by the Holy See could be observed, in the sphere of art emphasizing faithfulness to tradition, as well as compliance with the dogmas and the canonical regulations. The relations between the theory of church art and the artistic praxis visible in the wooden churches’ wall decoration coincided with a peculiar ‘renaissance’ of figurative murals in brick churches of Greater Poland. The changes were occurring with the participation of the already new generation of painters, graduates from artistic schools, or at least drawing classes, familiar with the history of art, and well acquainted with a new history domain, mainly iconography. The artists, including those active in wooden churches, would derive from the rich repertory of reproductions of paintings by Raphael, Murillo, or Titian. Another popular oeuvre for the purpose was that of Friedrich Overbeck. The iconographic programmes of wooden churches, modest in the application of figural motifs, reflected predominantly Marian devotion, re-promoted with the 1854 proclamation of the Immaculate Conception dogma. The devotion was demonstrated mainly in the traditional presentations of the Virgin and Child, Immaculate Conception, Assumption, and Our Lady of the Rosary. Marian motifs, dominating in the painterly wall decorations actually marginalized Christological iconography. In the preserved resources not even a single Passion presentation has survived. Next to Marian motifs, a permanent element of iconographic programmes could be found in single effigies of saints. These most frequently included the Evangelists embodying the revealed foundations of the faith, but also testifying to the compliance of the iconographic contents that accompanied them with the Church’s teaching. It was only in the late 19th century that gradually more images of Polish saints appeared in the iconographic programmes of wall painting. This was the period that coincided with more intensified activity of Polish Church promoting the cult of native saints. Effigies of Polish saints were to make the faithful realize the Christian roots of the national identity. The patriotic message was to promptly manifest itself in the iconographic programmes in brick churches of Greater Poland in the form of assemblies of Polish saints serving as ‘advocates of the nation in bondage’, or in the paintings of the intervention of Our Lady at Poland’s breakthrough historic moments. The surviving wall paintings in wooden churches lack this ‘patriotic’ literality. There, more commonly only single effigies of Polish saints were presented.Despite the proclaimed slogans of the revival of religious art, the limitation of figural motifs for the sake of pattern-based ornamental compositions of decorative character, typical of wall decorations in the post-partition period, eventually resulted in increasing shallowness of the ideological iconographic programmes. The issue was raised by Church authorities. These, however, had only a limited influence on the church interior painterly décor, as this remained conditioned by the financial capacities of the congregation; in the post-partition period it was almost exclusively them who were burdened with the church running costs. The sources show that rural parishes, generally with more modest financing for church renovation, limited their expenses on the painterly décor, showing preference for cheaper pattern-based decoration, and not the more expensive figurative presentations.
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Zoomorphe Friese auf dem Hochschloss der Marienburg. Auf in den Friesen im Äußeren der Südseite der Marienburger Schlosskapelle sowie in den Nischen der „Goldene Pforte” genannten Portalvorhalle dieser Kapelle verwendeten, glasierten Backsteinen (ca. 17 × 14 × ca. 8 cm) finden sich ausdrucksstarke Gestalten eines Greifen, eines Hirsches, eines Löwen sowie eines Drachen, die im flachen Relief dargestellt werden (Abb. 1-15). Die Friese entstanden während der ersten Bauphase des Nordflügels des Konventshauses, die in das letzte Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts fällt. Heute bestehen sie aus 109 (ursprünglich 110) Einzelbildern, wovon es sich bei 61 um Originale aus dem 13. Jahrhundert handelt. Die Übrigen wurden 1883 als Kopien beschädigter Originale eingesetzt (Anm. 5). Die Plazierung der Originalbilder zeigt die Abb. 4.Die Forschung in Bezug auf diese Friese setzte sich bis dahin hauptsächlich mit den Frage nach der Datierung, den künstlerischen Vorbildern sowie der Aussage dieser Darstellungen auseinander. Betont wurden die Seltenheit derartiger zoomorpher Friese in der Backsteinarchitektur des 13. Jahrhunderts, die feine Ausarbeitung der Marienburger Reliefs sowie die Differenzen hinsichtlich der Ausdruckskraft der Marienburger Löwendarstellung im Vergleich zu einer ähnlichen Darstellung auf einem aus der Komtursburg in Brandenburg am Frischen Haff stammenden Backstein (Anm. 16-25). In der Anfangszeit der Baukunst in Preußen spielten aus der Mark Brandenburg und aus Mecklenburg stammende Architekten und Ziegelbrenner eine wesentliche Rolle. Als den Marienburger Darstellungen typologisch am nächsten stehende und ungefähr zu gleicher Zeit entstandene Dekorationen dieser Art verwies man auf Friese an den mecklenburgischen Kirchen zu Steffenshagen und Boitin (Anm. 35-36, 61-65). Bogna Jakubowska beschäftigte sich mit den Marienburger Friesen besonders ausführlich (Anm. 42). Sie betonte, dass die überstilisierten Darstellungen der Friese in stilistisch-formaler Hinsicht kaum den anderen Details der Goldenen Pforte ähneln und auch nach keinerlei erkennbarer Regel angeordnet sind. Den am Hals des Greifen angehängten, mit einem Kreuz versehenen Schild wollte sie als ein apotropäisches Zeichen verstehen. Den Greif selbst interpretierte sie hinsichtlich seiner symbolischen Bedeutung indessen nicht. Dazu äußerte sich mehrfach Kazimierz Pospieszny (Anm. 30, 45, 50). Zunächst bezeichnete er das phantastische Tierwesen als Abbild „der Sünde, also des Bösen, das in diesem Falle auf den Ordensbrüdern lastet“. Weiter ist er der Meinung, dass die zoomorphen Reliefs für das allgemein zu begreifende Böse stehen, also die heidnische Welt der Prußen und der Litauer. Den apotropäischen Sinn des Marienburger Greifen mit dem Schild stellte er in Frage und wollte ihn im Zusammenhang mit anderen, „weit verbreiteten Darstellungen auf den Mauern der Deutschordensburgen, die den Kampf (die Mission) des Ordens in Preußen abbildeten“, sehen. Zuletzt beschäftigte sich mit dem Thema wiederum Bogna Jakubowska, die die in den Friesen gezeigten Tierwesen samt den Darstellungen diverser Fabelwesen in den Vorhallennischen, in den Archivolten und in den Kapitellzonen des Portals betrachtete (Anm. 2, 53). Ihrer Meinung nach repräsentieren sie alle verschiedene negative Kräfte. Den Greif mit dem an seinen Hals angebundenem Schild will sie als das vom Orden gezähmte und durch seine Hand der Vernichtung anheimfallende Böse sehen. Bei den Darstellungen auf den Friesen handelt es sich nach ihrer Auffassung um „eine Warnung vor dem Jüngsten Tag“.Hinsichtlich der Identifizierung der auf den Marienburger Friesen jeweils mehrfach dargestellten Tierwesen ist man sich in der Forschung einig. So gibt es keine Zweifel, dass es sich bei einem der Bilder um den Hirsch handelt (Abb. 9). Überwiegend eindeutig werden auch der geflügelte Drache (Abb. 11) und der (mähnenlose) Löwe (Abb. 10, 12) identifiziert. Eine mit diesem Merkmal ausgestattete Darstellung des Löwen deutet darauf hin, dass es sich hier wohl eher um das Abbild einer Löwin, eines Leoparden oder des Vertreters einer besonders aggressiver Löwenrasse handelt, deren Merkmal eben das Fehlen der Mähne ist (Anm. 75-76). Am schwierigsten zu erklären ist indessen das phantastische Tierwesen, das meist als „Greif“ bezeichnet wird (Abb. 8, 13, 25). Der Greif wird üblicherweise als ein geflügeltes Hybridwesen mit dem Leib eines Löwen und einem Adlerprotom dargestellt (Anm. 85). Das in Marienburg von rechts nach links schreitende, flügellose, schlanke Fabeltier weist einen Vogelkopf, den Leib eines Vierbeiners sowie einen zotteligen Schweif auf, der eher dem Schwanz eines Pferdes als dem eines Löwen ähnelt (Abb. 8, 13, 25). Seine vorderen Beine/Pfoten enden mit überdimensionalen Vogelkrallen, während sich die Hinterbeine auf Pferdehufen stützen, was eher unüblich ist (Anm. 86). Dieses Merkmal sowie die ebenfalls bei einem Greif sonderbare Form des Schweifs deuten darauf hin, dass es sich hier um eine seltene, flügellose Art des Hippogryphen handelt, die in Folge der Verbindung von Greifen und Stuten entstand (Anm. 87). Diese ungewöhnliche Situation beschreibt Vergil als Beispiel für unnatürliche oder unmögliche Vorkommnisse und Ausdruck unangebrachter Neigungen oder Haltungen (Anm. 88). Der Kopf des Wesens sitzt auf einem langen „Schwanenhals“ und zeichnet sich durch einen recht langen, geraden Schnabel, spitze Ohren und ein hervorstehendes, hornartiges Stirngebilde aus, das etwas größer als die Ohren ist (Anm. 89). Die bisherige Forschung übersah es gänzlich, dass hinter dem langen Hals des Wesens in seinem oberen Abschnitt offenbar ein Pfeil dargestellt wurde, oder das Geschoss gar den Hals durchbohrt (Abb. 19, 24, 25). Der Pfeil wird parallel zum Schnabel des Hippogryphen dargestellt, ohne Befiederung und mit einer linsenförmigen Blattspitze, die sich zwischen dem linken Ohr des Tierwesens und dem mit einer Schildfessel an seinen Hals angebundenen, dreieckigen, über seinem Rücken beinahe parallel schwebenden Kreuzschild befindet. Die mangelhafte Geradlinigkeit beider Abschnitte des den Hals durchbohrenden Pfeils (links und rechts des Halses) ergibt sich offenbar aus der Notwendigkeit, dieses Element in das mit anderen Details bereits recht volles Bild einzupassen. Sie deutet wohl kaum einen Bruch des Geschosses an. Die fehlende Befiederung führt wiederum zu der Überlegung, ob es sich hier tatsächlich um einen (unvollständigen) Pfeil oder eher um eine kurze Lanze handelt, sofern durch eine solche Darstellungsweise keine speziellen symbolischen Inhalte angedeutet werden sollten.Aus dem Schnabel des Mischwesens treten Feuerzungen, die eine symmetrische Entsprechung für drei wellenförmige Streifen über seinem Schweif bilden. Diese Streifen sollen wohl auf die Bewegung des Tieres hinweisen, die ein Feuer oder eine Art Druckwelle nach sich zieht. Obwohl sich der Marienburger Hippogryph von der im Mittelalter üblichen Darstellungsweise eines Greifwesens durch mehrere Details unterscheidet (Flügellosigkeit, das „Stirnhorn“, Hufe), ist er zu jenen Wunderwesen zu zählen, die für ihr feindliches Verhältnis zu Pferd und Mensch, aber auch als Wächter von Gold und Smaragden des Kaukasus und Skythiens bekannt waren. Nach im hohen Mittelalter verbreiteter Meinung waren die Einwohner Skythiens, des weiten Landes östlich der germanischen Siedlungsgebiete, Heiden, die den Versuchen ihrer Christianisierung widerstanden. Smaragde standen symbolisch für den christlichen Glauben, während die den Zugang zu den wahren Schätzen verwehrenden und damit den Fortschritten der Evangelisierung feindlich gegenüberstehenden Greife als satanische Wesen galten (Anm. 94-96). Johannes Scottus Eriugena (810-877) vertrat indes die Meinung, dass den Greifen die Tugend der Keuschheit (castitas) eigen war (Anm. 97). Im 13. Jahrhundert brachten die in den Schilden geführten Zeichen die rechtliche Stellung des Ritters zum Ausdruck; meist verwiesen sie auf sein Lehnsverhältnis. Die Schilde wurden von den Kriegern üblicherweise vor sich hergetragen. Mutmaßlich wurden die Schilde der in Gefangenschaft Geratenen ebenfalls an ihrem Hals von vorne angehängt (Anm. 107). In drei Situationen legten die Träger jedoch ihre Schilde, durch eine Schildfessel abgesichert, auf den Rücken: beim Marschieren, bei der Flucht und beim Nahkampf (Anm. 108). Somit kann der Marienburger Hippogryph mitnichten als Abbild des vom Orden besiegten Bösen gelten. Auf die positive Symbolik des kämpferischen Fabelwesens weisen: das auf seinem Schild angebrachte Kreuzzeichen, die Position des Schildes, der mit Hilfe einer Schildfessel an seinem Hals befestigt über seinem Rücken schwebt, sein Habitus sowie der Bezug zu den anderen Tierwesen. Der hier dargestellte, feuerspeiende, flügellose Hybrid, der durch das wichtigste Symbol der Christenheit und des Deutschen Ordens als ein vollendeter Kreuzritter identifiziert wird, attackiert schwungvoll einen Drachen oder – seltener – einen Löwen (Abb. 4, 14, 28), die beide für Satan stehen. Eine solche Interpretation dieser Darstellung bestätigen auch die Symbolik und die Funktion der hier gezeigten Waffen. Laut Peter von Dusburg handelt es sich beim Schild auf jeden Fall um die wichtigste und zuverlässigste Waffe im Kampf gegen den schrecklichsten Feind – Satan, die symbolisch für die Glaubensstärke steht. Eine andere Bedeutung hingegen hat der Pfeil:„Der Pfeil versinnbildlicht die Keuschheit. […] Wie ferner der Pfeil mit zwei Federn fliegt wie ein Vogel und dem Feind schnellen Tod bringt, so gebraucht auch die Keuschheit zwei Federn, um ihren alten Feind zu überwinden, nämlich die Erneuerung des alten Lebens und den Nutzen der Erneuerung. Von diesen beiden Federn spricht Isaias: Die auf den Herren hoffen, werden ihre leibliche Kraft in geistige verwandeln, sie werden Federn bekommen wie der Adler (Is 40, 31); wenn der sich erneuern will, dann legt er die alte Federn ab und bekommt neue.“ In diesem Zusammenhang scheint selbstverständlich, dass das flügellose Marienburger Mischwesen eine Verwandlung erlebt, deren Zweck darin lag, das geistige Leben der bereits im Kampfe erfahrener Ritter zu vervollkommnen. Das Fehlen der Befiederung am verbogenen (?) Pfeil hinter dem Hals des Hippogryphs weist möglicherweise auf irgendwelche Vergehen der Ritterbrüder beim Erfüllen ihrer durch die Ordensregel bestimmten Aufgaben im zu christianisierenden Preußen hin. Weniger wahrscheinlich erscheint, dass darin eine Andeutung auf gewisse, heute nicht mehr bekannte Schwierigkeiten in der Tätigkeit des aus diesem Grunde von Zantir nach Marienburg 1280 verlegten Deutschordenskonvents enthalten ist (Anm. 117).Sollte indessen der den Hals des Tierwesens durchbohrende Pfeil tatsächlich für die Keuschheit stehen, so sei noch an eine andere Passage aus dem Werk des Chronisten erinnert:„Das Fleisch des keuschen Menschen kann also mit Job sagen: Die Pfeile des Herren stecken in mir; ihr Zorn trinkt meinen unkeuschen Geist aus (Job 6, 4). Wie groß und welcher Art der Zorn der Keuschheit gegen die Ausschweifung sei, weiß niemand, der ihn nicht erfahren hat.“ Der im Hals des Greifen steckende, beschädigte Pfeil, verweist möglicherweise auf ein schweres Vergehen gegenüber der Ordensregel, dessen sich die durch das Wesen symbolisch dargestellten Ordensritter schuldig gemacht haben. Die Keuschheit – also sexuelle Zurückhaltung – zählte nämlich neben der Besitzlosigkeit und des Gehorsams zu den wichtigsten Tugenden, welchen die Ordensmitglieder zu genügen hatten. Zwecks Veranschaulichung bemüht hier Peter von Dusburg das Beispiel des Königsberger Komturs Bertold von Brühaven (Amtszeit 1289-1301) (Anm. 119). Wegen der fehlenden Befiederung könnte das Geschoss auch als ein kurzer Speer interpretiert werden, doch scheint dies nicht überzeugend, da seine Länge in etwa der Höhe der von der Reiterei genutzten Schilde entspricht (ca. 50 oder sogar ca. 70-80 cm) (Anm. 121). Über diese Waffe schrieb Peter von Dusburg:„Der gute Speer bedeutet den rechten Vorsatz nach der Lehre des Apostels: Alles, was ihr tut mit Worten und Werken, das tut im Namen des Herrn (Kol 3, 17) und Ob ihr esst, trinkt oder etwas anderes tut, alles tut zur Ehre Gottes (1 Kor 10, 31). Dieser Speer bestimmt Wert oder Unwert eines jeden Werkes, weil aus einem bösen Vorsatz niemals ein gutes Werk hervorgeht und umgekehrt.“ Unabhängig davon, wie die Waffe und ihre Position identifiziert werden (beschädigter Pfeil oder Speer hinter dem Hals oder den Hals des flügellosen Hippogryphs durchbohrend, des Fabelwesens, das symbolisch für einen eine geistige Wandlung durchmachenden Deutschordensritter steht), zeigt sich, dass das Marienburger Relief mehrere didaktisch-moralische Inhalte in sich birgt, die heute – angesichts seiner Größe, der Herstellungstechnik sowie der unzureichenden Kenntnisse über die historische Situation in Preußen gegen Ende des 13. Jahrhunderts - nur schwer zu lesen sind. Das Reliefbild war mutmaßlich als Belehrung gedacht und hatte wohl kaum apotropäische Bedeutung. Um den Sinn der tierischen Darstellungen in den Marienburger Friesen zu deuten, müssen sie in einen Bezug zueinander gebracht werden. Der Hirsch steht u. a. für eine zu Gott strebende Seele (Ps 42 [41],2), aber auch für die Taufe. Die Taufe wird bekanntlich durch die Zahl 8 symbolisiert (Anm. 69) und so viele Sprossen zählt auch das sorgfältig dargestellte Prachtgeweih des Achtenders. Die fast gleichen Löwenbilder der Friese der Marienburg und der Komtursburg Brandenburg zeigen eine spezielle Löwenart, deren symbolische Bedeutung mehrdeutig ist (Anm. 82). So verstand sie auch Peter von Dusburg (Anm. 83). Sollten wir indessen den mähnenlosen Löwen als Leoparden identifizieren, so ruft er als solcher ausschließlich negative Konnotationen hervor. Der Drache steht in religiöser Auslegung eindeutig für das Böse, genauso wie der Hirsch für das Gute. Die sich in entgegengesetzte Richtung bewegenden Tierwesen deuten eine Konfrontation des Guten und des Bösen an (der Hirsch und der Hippogryph schreiten von rechts nach links, der Drache und der Löwe von links nach rechts). Ihre derartige Ausrichtung würde dann auch im Einklang mit den der jeweiligen Seite zugeschriebenen Eigenschaften stehen: die rechte Seite sei die gute, die linke Seite die schlechte (oder böse).Die Anzahl der in der jeweiligen Schicht eingesetzten, zuweilen gekürzten Backsteine [1 und 3; Abb. 4] wird von der Größe und der Aufteilung der Wände bestimmt. Deswegen ist nicht davon auszugehen, dass diese Zahlenwerte eine symbolische Bedeutung in sich bergen. Demgegenüber nimmt der Fries [2] in der oberen Partie der äußeren Portalarkade etwa zwei Drittel der Länge des jeweiligen Arkadenbogens ein, von der Spitze an gerechnet; auf der Westseite reicht er bis zur zweiten Schicht (von oben; oder vierten von unten gerechnet) der glatten, glasierten Backsteine, obwohl sich der Abakus des Türpfostenkapitells auf der Höhe der zweiten Backsteinschicht (von unten; oder der vierten von oben gerechnet; Abb. 4). Ist das Aussehen der Archivolte seit ihrer Erbauung unverändert, so ist die Anordnung ihrer Teile entweder auf einen vorübergehenden Mangel an mit zoomorphen Darstellungen verzierten Backsteinen während der Errichtung der Wand zwischen der zweiten unteren und der zweiten oberen Schicht glatt glasierter Backsteine zurückzuführen, was eher unwahrscheinlich scheint, oder auf eine sehr entwurfgenaue Ausführung der Archivolte, deren zoomorpher Fries aus zwölf Backsteinen mit dem Bild eines Löwen im rechten Profil (westlicher Halbbogen) sowie zehn (ursprünglich elf) Backsteinen mit den entgegensetzt ausgerichteten Bildern eines Hippogryphs und eines Hirsches besteht (12×L / 3×G, J, G, J, G, 3×J, ?). Wegen der offenbar nicht zufällig gewählten Zahl (12) der Segmente des westlichen Halbbogens der äußeren Portalarkade der Goldenen Pforte können die hier abgebildeten, mähnenlosen Löwen mit den zwölf Löwen an den zum Throne Salomos führenden Stufen assoziiert werden (1. Könige 10,20; 2. Chronika 9,19). Diese zwölf Löwen stehen symbolisch für die Prediger, die in Nachfolge der Apostel für die Verbreitung des wahren Glaubens tätig waren (ordo praedicatorum, Anm. 131). Den Zweck dieser Tätigkeit und die dabei angewandte Vorgehensweise erklären die Backsteinbilder des östlichen Halbbogens, die den die Taufe symbolisch darstellenden Hirsch sowie den feuerspeienden Hippogryph zeigen, der die Kraft aus dem ihn zugleich beschützenden Glauben (Kreuzschild) schöpft. Seine Keuschheit bringt der hinter seinem Hals sichtbarer Pfeil zum Ausdruck. Sollte das Geschoss indessen den Hals durchbohrt haben, so würde es dann nicht nur „den Zorn der Keuschheit gegen die Ausschweifung“ versinnbildlichen, sondern ebenso die Bereitschaft der Kreuzritter, bei der Verteidigung des Glaubens ihr Leben hinzugeben. Ähnlich hätte auch eine Lanze als gute Absicht gedeutet werden können, die eine gute Tat hervorbringt, was auch entsprechend belohnt wird. Die ursprüngliche Anzahl der Tierwesen im Fries des östlichen Halbbogens der Archivolte (11) verbirgt – angesichts der oben aufgezeigten Deutung der zwölf Löwen (ordo praedicatorum) – mutmaßlich einen anderen Hinweis auf die Missionstätigkeit des Deutschen Ordens. So dauerte es elf Jahre, bis die Ordensritter die prußischen Heiden „dem Christenglauben machtvoll unterwarfen”. Eine natürliche Konsequenz der Ausrichtung der Tierwesen nach links (Hippogryph, Hirsch) oder rechts (Löwe, Drache) ist ihre antithetische Gegenüberstellung, die eine Auseinandersetzung suggeriert. Dabei ist zu betonen, dass eine solche Gegenüberstellung nicht unbedingt auf einen Konflikt hinweisen muss. Die Deutung des Aufeinandertreffens der Wesen hängt von der ihnen zugeschriebenen Symbolik ab. Zwei davon – der Löwe und der Greif – sind mehrdeutig; der Hirsch wurde stets positiv, der Drache hingegen stets negativ gesehen.Es ist schwer zu sagen, ob das weiße Steingesims des Südwandsockels der Kapelle (Abb. 2, 4-7) eine ästhetische oder eher eine symbolische Bedeutung hatte (architekturtechnisch spielte es sicherlich keine Rolle). Es ging hier wohl weniger darum, die Solidität der Grundmauern der Kapelle zu betonen, sondern um die Hervorhebung der symbolischen, sich auf die Missionstätigkeit des Deutschen Ordens in Preußen beziehenden Inhalte des direkt darüber verlaufenden zoomorphen Frieses. Sein Abschnitt [2.1; Abb. 4] – zwischen den Portaleingängen der Büßerzelle und des zur Empore führenden Treppenganges – kann als Darstellung des Kampfes des Ordens (Hippogryph) gegen das Böse (Drache) zwecks Bekehrung der Heiden (Hirsch) gedeutet werden. Der Sinn der Backsteinbilder im Fries östlich der Goldenen Pforte [2.3] erschließt sich hingegen nicht so leicht. Werden die die Kapelle verlassenden Mächte des Bösen (Drachen und Löwen) vom Greif nicht erfolgreich genug bekämpft, da der Drache fliehen konnte? Obwohl es kaum Zweifel daran geben kann, dass die im Fries verwendeten Darstellungen der Tierwesen gemäß den in ihnen kodierten symbolischen Inhalten angeordnet wurden, führen Versuche, die Details dieser Inhalte in den 18 Backsteinbildern der Westwand der Portalvorhalle zu deuten, mitnichten zu einem zufriedenstellenden Ergebnis. Auch die Glasurfarbe der einzelnen Backsteine (diverse Gelb- und Brauntöne, Schwarz, dunkles Grün) liefert wohl in Bezug auf die Anordnung der Bilder nach diesem Kriterium kaum zielführende Hinweise. Solange nicht bekannt ist, inwiefern die Restaurierungen der 1880ger Jahre die zoomorphen Friese verändert haben, muss von weiteren Deutungen ihrer symbolischen Inhalte abgesehen werden.
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The composition of the Last Judgment in the church of Prophet Elijah (1550) in Iliyantsi (Sofia) was the first in Bulgaria in its new, thematically expanded model introduced by the Cretan school in the monasteries on Mount Athos and on the island in the Ioannina lake (1530s–1540s). Just several years later, the new elements such as the Dream of Daniel and the image of the poor man were included. The artist has not only transferred and interpreted the latest novelties for the 16th century, but has also added to and enriched the picture of the Last Judgment with unique images such as the personifications of the planets and the Zodiac, images of the prophets David and Solomon, the Heavenly Jerusalem and the conversation of the Theotokos with Archangel Michael in heaven. The image of an icon of Christ Pantokrator at the scales with sins also remains without a parallel and difficult to interpret. The numerous novelties in the iconography of the Iliyantsi church, introduced for the first time several years earlier on Mount Athos, may only be due to very active and direct relations between Sofia and Mt. Athos during the 16th century.
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The article analyzes one of the key ideas of Prof. Atanas Natev in his attempt to create a systematic theory of drama, namely his theory of "intermission" as a basic constructive principle for building dramatic action and the specific way in which drama affects the perceiver. The theory of "intermission" is compared with the ideas of the emerging at the same time literary discipline "narratology", the work of the structuralist trend in literary studies. This is necessary because narratology has given other explanations to some of the key ideas in the theory of "intermission". The main question that is asked in the article is whether in the seemingly devoid of the figure of the mediator dramatic composition, such does not exist, albeit only implicitly. Because drama, as well as the other two genres - lyric and epic -, need the fictional figure of the subject, which turns the amorphous structure of the "flow of life" into "history", and then into a carefully composed plot for the viewer to recreate in his mind during the performance, as the theory of the "intermission" states.
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The article is focused on one of the few plays for children by the Bulgarian poet and playwright Stefan Tsanev. On the basis of some poetical specifics in the text of “The most wonderful Wonder” is formulated a hypothesis about the ‘strategy’ of this work as an actualization of phoneticism of the language. In this sense the form of the play is analyzed as a demonstration of the archaic and even the paleolinguistic aspect of the language i.e. of its asemanticity. In this way are interpreted the names of the characters, which are only letters, and the poetic figures with homonymy, paronymy, onomatopoeia etc. The form of the dramatic work is analyzed in relation to the allegorical narrative of a starving primitive tribe which literally degrades to the apes. The one of the main characters – the chief and shaman called U is understood as an ambivalent figure of the speech, as a figure of the both political demagoguery and mystical poetic speech.
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Tino Sehgal refuse le terme « performance » et préfère appeler ses œuvres des « situations ». This is good de 2001, qui a été exposée à Düsseldorf, dans le cadre de la Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, est une œuvre basée sur une situation inattendue où le gardien du musée sort de son rôle et commence à avoir un comportement inhabituel, comme une chorégrafie absurde. Ce comportement s’éloigne de l’attente conventionnelle concernant l’invisibilité sémiotique du gardien et l’interaction quasiment absente entre lui et le public. Les histoires personnelles créent l'illusion de l’intimité, puis l’abandon brusque crée un vide et laisse le spectateur-participant dans une position inconfortable. L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser les différentes stratégies de « tromperie » que Tino Sehgal utilise pour produire de la confusion dans l’esprit du public amateur d’art contemporain, en profitant des attentes créées par l’espace institutionnel, afin de dévoiler les enjeux de sa démarche artistique.
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Until the beginning of the 20th century, portraits and landscapes were the main subjects of photographic capture. In the period, such themes were prevalent due to technical and ideological concerns. Photography was considered a mimesis of reality. In this sense, science started to use photographs to reinforce time and place features. The portraits made in the 19th century by Julia Cameron fit this context. She registered figures of the Victorian intelligentsia, reflecting in her work the vision of the British Empire as the land of geniuses and intellectually virile men. Here, we discuss the portrait of Darwin made by Cameron in 1868 based on the reasoning of Peircean semiotics and photographic language (especially lightning, composition, photograph format, subject expression and gestures), establishing a parallel between Darwin as a person and scientist and his iconic representation. Cameron's portrait of Darwin employed lighting and composition to emphasize his intellect. Cameron's portrait of Darwin strengthens the constructed perception of 19th-century British scientists as self-assured men, knowledgeable and authoritative, who wielded leadership in their era. This portrayal aligns with the British imperial perspective of the time, emphasizing control over speech, language, and power.
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Kentaro Miura’s manga series Berserk (1989-present) is largely based on late medieval and Renaissance Europe, but its author relied on a much broader array of references, among which those related to Romanticism and the Gothic genre are of prime importance. Through published interviews with the author and comparisons between the manga’s panels and works of fiction, poetry and the visual arts, we seek to investigate the persistence of the Romantic and the Gothic traditions in Berserk. We argue that their imprint on the manga may be discerned in five main aspects: Berserk’s borrowings from the Romantic visual arts; its employing of vastness, repetition and uniformity in order to attain sublime effects; its affinity with the Gothic genre, whose macabre subjects and whose treatment of religion, cruelty and sexuality make its way into the manga; the Gothic and Romantic elements in its mythology; and its Romantic sentiment for nature. Some similarities between the manga and historical works point to direct and deliberate borrowings, resulting from the author extensive knowledge on Western art and academic background, while other similarities point to intermediate sources, which act as conduits between Miura and works of older periods. We conclude that the Japanese continuing of the Romantic and the Gothic traditions, exemplified by Berserk and other works, indicate that these traditions have kept their power to fuel creativity in contemporary culture and to shape our perceptions of the Middle Ages.
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The article focuses on Ion Besoiu’s first fifteen years of theatrical activity in Sibiu and aims to reveal the repertoire of a theatre aligned with communist ideology in the 1950s-1960s Romania. His subsequent roles in the film brought actor Ion Besoiu national fame for more than five decades. The Sibiu scene was his springboard into the film world.
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Over the past several years, various theatre productions have emerged around the world under the umbrella of the term of Virtual Reality (VR) Theatre. Although these productions themselves use VR technology within their framework, a debate on this topic is essential in order to understand how this phenomenon of the VR Theatre itself can be defined, and more importantly, to understand in depth the implications and specificities of this new branch of theatre. At the same time, there are theatre companies that even refer to themselves as VR Theatre companies, or national theatres that call their productions VR Theatre performances. It is therefore useful to have an understanding of this phenomenon and to debate it in the light of relevant theatre productions on this matter. Thus, throughout this paper it will be analysed and discussed the emergence of VR, the appearance of the term of VR Theatre, and more importantly, whether and how these productions were produced and whether they can truly be considered theatre.
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Over the past several years, various theatre productions have emerged around the world under the umbrella of the term of Virtual Reality (VR) Theatre. Although these productions themselves use VR technology within their framework, a debate on this topic is essential in order to understand how this phenomenon of the VR Theatre itself can be defined, and more importantly, to understand in depth the implications and specificities of this new branch of theatre. At the same time, there are theatre companies that even refer to themselves as VR Theatre companies, or national theatres that call their productions VR Theatre performances. It is therefore useful to have an understanding of this phenomenon and to debate it in the light of relevant theatre productions on this matter. Thus, throughout this paper it will be analysed and discussed the emergence of VR, the appearance of the term of VR Theatre, and more importantly, whether and how these productions were produced and whether they can truly be considered theatre.
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The article focuses on a preliminary pedagogical research of the third stage within the study of the mask in Commedia dell’Arte: the character mask. This stage is preceded by the study of the neutral and larval mask. The objective of the neutral mask is the student’s bodily detoxification, characterized by focus, balance, concentration. The study of the larval mask is as a bridge between the neutral and the character mask. The character mask defines the character in a clear and strong manner, through its architectural structure. The student has to learn how to read a character mask, how to discover its whole architectural structure, in order to be able to further discover its details, shadows. Corporality must be perfectly adapted to the architectural construction of the mask.
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Games take part in the evolution of humans throughout their entire life and become means of discovering the world and the reality and represent the way of accepting, understanding and appropriating the rules and conventions of society and at the same time discovering fantasy and developing imagination. These features of the game transpose into the theatre and into the training process of actors, with the purpose of resetting the ways of thought and perception on immediate reality. For generation Z the game becomes a bridge to the digital world, to the different forms of virtual reality. The Ludic element remains essentially the same, even if the game acquires new forms of manifestation. The new perception of the idea of game and play imposes a change of the theatrical games and exercises with the purpose of meeting the needs and values of young emergent-adult, through the dynamics and relevance necessary to stimulate motivation and achieve the main goals of the process of actor training.
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Pericle, realizat de regizorul Philip Parr la Teatrul Maghiar de Stat „Csiky Gergely” din Timișoara, stă sub semnul lui laolaltă. Un sentiment de convivialitate te îmbie de la intrarea în sala de spectacol. Un salut schițat cu buzele și un gest făcut cu pălăria de Gowel te primesc în spațiul joc. Deja traversezi o mare și te apropii de țărm prin parcurgerea scenei pe care stă desenată o hartă maritimă stilizată. În mijlocul său tronează o barcă, spectatorii stau pe două părți, față în față, ca într-o oglindire (de pe un mal pe altul). Ce impresionează pe tot parcursul spectacolului este convingerea că acesta se creează și se ajustează perpetuu sub privirea noastră. Actorii intră în scenă și rămân la vedere pe tot parcursul spectacolului. Schimbă roluri, priviri, costume. Actorii apar în „civil”, au bagaje pentru călătoria în care se îmbarcă: plase, rucsaci cu haine și cu instrumente. Își refuză sau își acceptă rolul, își judecă personajul, au dileme dacă și cum să îl joace, cer aprobarea tacită a lui Gowel – maestru de ceremonii sub ochii căruia se întâmplă întreaga plăsmuire. Acesta desface ițele poveștii, decide episoadele care sunt jucate și pare că distribuie rolurile. Clarifică, revine cu amănunte, comprimă timpul sau îl lasă să se dilate. În barcă, un picior ridicat – singurul pe care îl vedem și care anunță deja un personaj parțial vizibil, dar mereu prezent ca motoral acțiunii sau ca referință (întâi partea pentru a înțelege și întregul). De altfel, aventurile lui Pericle rămân numitorul comun, cele de la care iradiază acțiunile tuturor personajelor. Ele sunt precum popasurile pe care le are protagonistul în lungul său drum către sine însuși.
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