Umění, karikatura, publikum a veřejnost: Poznámky k vídeňské Secesi

Author(s): Roman Prahl / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2019

This study deals with the most relevant Viennese magazines of humour and satire (Der Floh, Figaro, Kikeriki! and Wiener Caricaturen), published at the time of the emergence and early years of the Vienna Secession movement. Its aim is to ascertain the nature of their mediation between the modernist tendencies in art and the local general public. The main focus is on these periodicals’ positions in their contemporary polemic around modernism. In dealing with this polemic, the author also refers to the use of elements of humour by protagonists and advocates of the Vienna Secession movement, most notably in the periodical Ver sacrum.

Przedmioty i paramenty liturgiczne przechowywane w zakrystii Kościoła Mariackiego w Krakowie w wieku XIV i XV

Author(s): Elżbieta Piwowarczyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2002

The article discusses the liturgical objects and items kept in the sacristy of St Mary's Church in Krakow on the basis of surviving 14th and 15th century archive material.

Walory artystyczne i treści ikonograficzne kościoła i klasztoru bernardynów w Krakowie

Author(s): Jan Samek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2002

The article discusses the artistic value and iconographic content of the Bernardine church and monastery in Krakow.

Mauzoleum bł. Szymona z Lipnicy z krakowskiego kościoła bernardynów

Author(s): Krzysztof Kwaśniewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2002

The first church of St Bernardine in Stradom, at the foot of the Wawel Hill, was founded by Zbigniew and Jan Oleśnicki after 1453. The history of the church is inextricably linked to the tomb of blessed Simon of Lipnica and his worship.

Srebrne wyposażenie średniowiecznego ołtarza św. Stanisława w katedrze krakowskiej

Author(s): Krzysztof Czyżewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2003

The article looks at these elements of St. Stanislaus’ tomb in the Gothic Cathedral on the Wawel Hill which were made of silver. Except for one (a reliquary diptych) all were destroyed and are known only from written records. The basic issue is to establish the date and the founder of a wooden coffin covered with gilded silver plates, in which the relics of the Martyr were placed. The literature on the subject attributed the foundation of the reliquary to St. Kunegunda (1234-1292), Elizabeth of Poland (1305-1380), St. Jadwiga, Hedvig of Anjou (1374-1399) and Ladislaus the Short (1260 or 1261-1333). Thanks to the records written in 1631 by a priest Jan Wielewicki which mention the renovation of the medieval coffin, we know that it had an inscription which unequivocally pointed to the person of Elizabeth of Poland, wife of a Hungarian king Charles I Robert and mother of a king of Hungary and Poland Louis d’Anjou, as the founder. A detailed description included in the records of an inspection of the Cracow Cathedral in 1670 allows an approximate reconstruction of this work of art, which was a box-reliquary of approximate measurements: 175, 8x87, 9x43, 95 cm, closed with a ridge roof cover of unknown height. It had cast decoration. The longer sides were each interspersed with 6 and the shorter with 2 pictures with the scenes from St. Stanislaus’s life. Likenesses of 18 bishops adorned both patches of the corners and axes of the shorter sides were accentuated with buttresses. Top rims of the cover were decorated with an open-work comb (tracery). Iconographic programme cannot be reconstructed on the basis of the existing sources. After a new coffin for the remains of the Saint was funded by Sigismund III, the old one was used as a reliquary for the hand and placed in St. Peter and Paul’s chapel, which - according to tradition - originally housed the tomb. After the cathedral was looted by the Swedes in 1657, the medieval reliquary was put back in the middle of the church. Then, in the years 1669 -1671, when a new silver coffin was funded by bishop Piotr Gembicki, it was re-cast. An important element of St. Stanislaus’ altar decoration before 1512 (when Sigismund I had an imposing silver retable made) were paintings which were kept in the treasury and placed on the mensa during the liturgy. Inventories list 12 ‘plates’ in all, some of which were made of silver, some covered with silver sheet metal (frames, dresses) and some only decorated with such applique. The most imposing was a triptych with the Holy Trinity engraved on sheet metal and richly set with jewels (in the type of Throne of Mercy) and the figures of Mary with the Child and St. John the Evangelist. Among the rest the most prominent were the depictions of the Salvator and the Virgin Mary with the Child. Some were accompanied by markings indicating their Byzantine or Ruthenian origins. A painting of Mary holding little Jesus in her arms, covered with a silver plate with lilies in the background, set with jewels and pearls, in a frame decorated with Polish and Hungarian coats of arms deserves special attention. It can undoubtedly be considered as a twin work to the three paintings stored in the treasury in Aachen and one in Mariazell, funded by Louis d’Anjou. The only painting of those which used to adorn the altar of St. Stanislaus which has survived to the present is the reliquary diptych with silver appliques, set with precious stones, depicting the Virgin Mary with the Child and Vemicle. It was painted in Cracow around 1440-1450 and was funded by the cathedral curate Maciej of Grodziec.

Średniowieczne cykle przedstawieniowe życia, męczeństwa i cudów św. Stanisława, Biskupa

Author(s): Zdzisław Kliś / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2003

The author has presented the state of research on the works existing in Poland as well as the ones connected with the country. Then he has compiled and discussed the same theme scenes. That compilation of cycles presenting the life and martyrdom of St. Stanislaus the Bishop and the miracles after his death shows typological similarities and differences in depicting the events recorded before and after the canonization of the Saint. Those examples do not represent any faithful imitation of some earlier work; one can only trace some similarities and concepts based on iconographie models already existing in depicting Christ and the saints.

Kościoły pw. św. Stanisława BM w Krakowie wybudowane w XX wieku

Author(s): Józef Szymon Wroński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2003

1. Die Pfarrkirche Zum Hl Bischof und Märtyrer Stanislaus in DąbieDąbie liegt 3 Kilometer östlich vom Stadtzentrum entfernt. In die Stadt wurde es 1911 eingemeindet. In den Jahren 1965-75 entstand hier eine Wohnsiedlung. In den nächsten Jahren -infolge der zunehmenden Einwohnerzahl - erfolgte eine Verdichtung der Wohnsiedlungsbebauung. Das Grundstück, auf dem die Kirche steht, liegt im Winkel zwischen der Weichsel und der Białucha, im Bereich der ehemaligen österreichischen Schanze FS-16. Es war stark mit Bäumen bepflanzt. Das bereitete aber viele Schwierigkeiten, d.h. es gab Probleme sowohl mit der Ausdünnung der Bäume, als auch mit der Erhaltung des restlichen Baumbestandes. Am 11. März 1982 erhielt Dąbie endlich eine Baugenehmigung für den Bau einer Kirche in der Wohnsiedlung. Die Kirche, die nach einem Projekt des Architekten Henryk Kamiński in den Jahren 1984-2000 errichtet wurde, ist der Gemeinde zur Verfügung gestellt, aber im Innern noch nicht ausgestattet. Der Bau der Kirche zerfällt in zwei Phasen: die erste Phase dauerte bis zum Jahre 1989, in dem es zu einem Probstwechsel kam. Der neue Probst und zugleich der Investor Wiesław Macuda übernahm den Bau in dem Moment, als die Mauern der Kirche bis zu den Sohlbänken ausgeführt waren. Mit voller Energie ging er ans Werk, um den Bau weiterzuführen. Die Kirche hat zwei Geschosse: - die sog. Unterkirche im Erdgeschoss und die Oberkirche. Die Kirche hat einen fast quadratischen Grundriss, der diagonal gestellt und stark modifiziert ist. Die eigentliche Kirche - die Oberkirche ist dreischiffig. Die Seitenschiffe sind von dem Mittelschiff durch (je einen) Pfeiler getrennt. Das Mittelschiff hat einen Obergaden (Region der Fenster im Mittelschiff iner Basilika) in der Form einer Lichtnische, durch die das Licht in den Raum hineinfällt und die ganze Kirche mit Licht überflutet ist. Von hier aus streben die „Scheiben-wände” der Obergadenlichtnische nach oben. Ziel ist die größte Höhe über dem Altarraum. Die Stahlbetondecke ist in mehrere Flächen zergliedert, die auf vielen Ebenen liegen. Der Altar steht auf einem vielstufigem Podest. Ihm gegenüber liegt der Chor, der aus Konstruktionsgründen drei Etagen hat (eine Seltenheit in der Architektur Krakaus). Die Schönheit der Kirche drückt sich in ihrer Geräumigkeit, der vielflächigen Decke aus, die reichgestaltet ist und dadurch Licht-Schatteneffekte hervorruft. Da die Kirche unter der Schutzherrschaft des Hl. Bischofs Stanislaus steht, hat sie eine symbolträchtige Form. Sowohl der Grundriss als auch der Baukörper der Kirche nahm die Form einer Mitra an (zwei schildförmige Wände, vom und hinten gebogen, oben dreieckig - spitz zulaufend, die durch Balkenträger verbunden sind). Architektonisch gesehen, gehört die Kirche der späteren Moderne an.2. Die Pfarrkirche Zum Hl. Bischof und Märtyrer Stanislaus in Kantorowice Sie ist als typischer Integrationsbau niedrig gehalten und zwischen den Siedlungshäusern eingebunden. Die Kirche wurde in den Jahren 1985-1986 als Notkirche errichtet und zwei Jahre darauf vom Bischof Kazimierz Nycz eingeweiht. Als eigene Pfarrei existiert sie erst seit dem 2. Februar 1994. Die Kirche ist ein eingessossiger Längsbau, der mit einem Satteldach gedeckt ist. Von außen sieht sie wie ein größeres Wirtschaftsgebäude aus, mit einem Dachreiter (Signaturtürmchen) auf dem Dachfirst. Beim Betreten des Innenraumes bemerkt man, daß der Bau in drei Schiffe eingeteilt ist. Das rechte Seitenschiff hat die Rundbogenarkaden und dient zusätzlich als Kapelle, das linke aber ruht nur auf einem Pfeiler und bildet mit dem Hauptschiff einen Raum. An der Altarwand hängt das Bild des Hl. Stanislaus, das vom Maler Piotr Moskal gemalt wurde. Der Altar steht auf einem einstufigem Podest. Stilistisch gehört die Kirche zur Moderne. 3. Die Kirche Zum Hl. Bischof und Märtyrer Stanislaus in Tonie Tonie ist ein ehemaliges Dorf am Sudolufer malerisch gelegen. Es liegt 7 Kilometer nördlich vom Stadtzentrum, an der alten Handelsstraße über Będzin nach Schlesien. 1961 wurde es in die Stadt eingemeindet. In Tonie steht ein alter Bildstock, der den Hl. Stanislaus (den Bischof und Märtyrer) darstellt. Er ist wahrscheinlich eine Replik des berühmt gewordenen Bildstocks des Hl. Stanislaus Auf dem Felsen. An diesem Bildstock, der von der dortigen Bevölkerungverehrt wurde, fanden Maiandachten statt und später wurden Messen gelesen. Es stand daher fest, daß die Kirche, die in Zukunft gebaut werden sollte, den Namen des Hl. Stanislaus tragen muß. Am 3. September 1990 begann Priester Jan Urbański eine seelsorgerische Tätigkeit in Tonie. Im März nächsten Jahres begann der Neubau unter seiner Leitung. Der Plan der Kirche wurde vom Architekten Wiesław Stefański unter Mitarbeit von Ireneusz Piotrowski vorbereitet. Nach dem Ablauf der sieben Monate stand die Kirche fertig und der Kardinal Franciszek Macharski konnte die erste Messe in den rohen Mauern dieser neuen Kirche lesen. Am 20. Mai 1993 wurde offiziell ein Seelsorgezentrum ins Leben gerufen.Die Kirche hat einen originellen Plan. Sie ist ein Längsbau, dreischiffig. Diese Dreischiffigkeit ist aber ungewöhnlich gestaltet, d.h. das Hauptschiff ist von der Achse „pendelartig” abgerückt, so daß die beiden Seitenschiffe keilhaft oder besser gesagt trapezförmig gestaltet sind. Die Richtung der Schiffe läuft nicht, wie üblich, parallel zu Außenwänden; durch die Schrägstellung des Mittelschiffes sind die Seitenschiffe trapezförmig. Eine ähnliche Originalität zeigt die Gestaltung der Apsis, die in der Form einer Schleife gebaut wurde. Die Chortreppe ist auch anders als sonst gestaltet. Der eine Treppenlauf hängt über dem Eingang, um zu zeigen, daß der Eintretende geistig in die Kirche steigen muß. Alles andere ist hier fast wie im alten Kirchenbau. Der Baukörper erinnert an schlichte italienische Kirchenbauten des Mittelalters. Stilistisch gehört die Kirche zur Postmodeme mit einigen de-konstruktiven Elementen.

Dekoracja rzeźbiarska kapitularza przy klasztorze oo. dominikanów w Krakowie

Author(s): Marek Walczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2004

The history of the chapter house of the Dominican Friars in Cracow is not known in greater detail. Only two medieval documents with a mention of it are known. In in capitulo fratrum ordinis Praedicatorum Cracoviae of 1244 an endowment for the Cistercian monastery in Mogiła was confirmed. In Cracovie in capitulo fratrum predicatorum of 1306 the purchase of land in Dąbie, near Cracow, was certified. Marcin Szyma estimated that these notes cannot be ascribed to one building, which means that there were two gathering places for monks, one built after the other. Szyma locates the oldest chapter-house in the site of today’s sacristy and links it with a brick wall with a biforium window and portal remains, found in the western wall of the building. The older record marks terminus ante quern, and comparative chronology and analysis of style point to 1240s as the date of extension of the house. A new chapter house was built in Szyma’s assessment at the end of that century, and certainly before 1306. The building has fairly rich decorative carving, infrequently mentioned in historical records. The portal in the western wall of the chapter house has had three preserved, if tumbledown, consoles carved in yellowish, fine-grained sandstone. The closest analogies to these decorations are to be found in edifices built for the last members of the Premyslids dynasty, especially for king Premyslav Otokar II in the third quarter of the 13th century. In works connected with the “Premyslids building school” compact, block-like shapes of caps, ‘coated’ with tiny leaves and decorative ‘crowns’ at rib base were fairly common. Consoles in a portal of the oldest fragment of Śpilberk in Brno or chapels in the castles in Bezdez, Horsovsky Tyn, Zvikov and Buchlov are of special importance for these considerations. Czech examples most often employ a variety of flora, yet, even here, in the portal caps of the monastery in Hradiśte on Jizerou (ca 1260) we come across a laciniated acanthus with characteristic folds. The connections described testify to the origins of the Cracow’s portal at the end of the third at the earliest or, most probably, the beginning of the fourth quarter of the 13th century. Until 1301 Czech Dominicans belonged to one province with Polish friars. Political expansion of Premyslav Otokar II in Polish territory, and especially in Cracow, led to a number of alliances with princes of the Piast dynasty, including Boleslaus the Chaste. The sandstone capital preserved in the Franciscan monastery can also cast light upon artistic connections between Cracovian and Czech sculptors. The capital, which has gone practically unnoticed in professional literature, is believed to be a fragment of an unfinished portal from the first tierce of the 14th century. The Cracow fragment is closest to the caps found in a Benedictine monastery at Ostrov, near Davie from ca 1260-1280 (Prague, National Museum), and the capital from St. Ludmila’s chapel, which until 1894 adjoined the sacristy of the Virgin Maiy’s church at Tyn in Prague (Prague, National Museum). Vault brick ribs are provided with stone leads at the base and are supported on stone consolas with three curved offsets. In each of the three bays there is a round keystone with an engraved decoration with a spatial, almost perfectly plastic character. Naturalistic character of the keystone with a floral pattern leads back to the French cathedral decorations. These decorations were introduced in the East by big workshops in the Reich, with the workshop of Naumburg Master in the first place. The spatial, openwork form, which consists of leaves rendered in a perfectly plastic way, approximates the Cracow carving to, for example, keystones in the body of the naves in the cathedral in Meissen. Figural reliefs seem to refer to works of the ‘expressive’ trend in sculpture of the second half of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century, which have unquestionable connections with the alternative Gothic painting or with the formula of the zigzag style (German Zackenstill). Angular breaking of folds was considerably softened here due to exceptionally fleshy treatment of matter. Huge piles of fabric are very plastic, which blurs the outline of the drawing and washes away its expression. The closest similarity links these sculptures with works that came from Saint Erminold Master workshop - one that played a key role in the development of stone sculpture in the territory of the Reich at the close of the 13th century. The style character of sculptures (especially this ‘underlying’ tradition of the zigzag style, readable amongst piles of fleshy matter) points to the times short after the year 1300 as their origin. Hie workshop that was completing the walling up in the Cracow Dominican monastery combined the solutions known in Central Europe, while the dominant role seems to be played by patterns from Austria and the southern parts of the Reich (Regensburg). Basic role in the artist’s choice could have been played by wide contacts of friars within the order, if only through going for general studies.

Sobre la iconografía de Jesús Nazareno rescatado en los siglos XVII - XX (O ikonografii Jezusa Nazareńskiego Wykupionego w wiekach XVII-XX)

Author(s): Andrzej Witko / Language(s): Spanish Issue: 1/2004

The art of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity attaches special importance to the motif of Ransomed Jesus of Nazareth; the theme is exclusive to works by the Discalded Trinitarians. It is refers to a wooden statue from Seville (second or third decade

Krakowskie kościoły karmelitańskie zbudowane na początku XX wieku

Author(s): Józef Szymon Wroński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2004

1. Die Klosterkirche der unbeschuhten Karmelitinnen Zum Heiligen Josef. Ein glücklicher Auftakt und somit die charakteristische Einführung in das 20. Jh. für den Kirchenbau von Krakau war die Errichtung der Karmeliterinnen St. Josephs-Kirche an der Lobzowska-Straße 40, in der die Architekten (Tadeusz Stryjeński (1849-1943) - Projektant der Kirche und Franciszek Mączyński (1874-1947) - Ausführer des Bauprojektes mit eigenen Verbesserungen) die historisch- eklektizistischen Formen d.h. die mittelalterlichen Formen vor allem des sog. Übergangsstils vereinfachten. Die Kirche, die in den Jahren 1903-1905 errichtet wurde, steht inmitten vom Baukomplex des Klosters, dessen Grundriss das Quadrat ist49. Der Kirchenbau ist ein dem Gesamtbau des Klosters eingefügter Längsraum. Hinter dem Chor liegt das Oratorium des Konvents. Das Material Backstein (mit Verwendung von Stein) erinnert an die Baukunst eines der besten Architekten jener Zeit, nämlich Teodor Talowskis (1857-1910), der viele Kirchen in Südpolen, aber auch viele Bürgerhäuser nicht nur in Krakau im ausgehenden 19. Jh. baute. Die Architektur der Karmeliterinnen St. Josephs-Kirche ist immer noch im Malerischen begriffen. Aber die Vereinfachung der historischen Formen führt zu ihrer „Beruhigung” und dadurch zur Wuchtigkeit des Ausdrucks. Bemerkenswert ist die in dieser Zeit (in der Anlage) noch seltene ausgewogene Proportionierung des Baukörpers. Das methodische Prinzip jener Zeit ist der Kontrast. Im Kontrast zu den gedrungenen und wuchtigen Formen des Baukörpers stehen z.B. die sich verjüngenden obeliskenförmigen und pylonenartigen Türmchen, die nicht nur die Eingangsfassade der Kirche flankieren, sondern auch an den Ecken des Querhauses der Kirche stehen. Die ingravierten weißen Steine an der Fassade in der Zahl von Zehn erinnern an das Gebot des Karmelterinnenordens: Bete täglich den Rosenkranz und sind zugleich ein Vanitativmotiv.2. Die Klosterkirche der unbeschuhten Karmeliter Zur Unbefleckten Empfängnis Mariens, in der Rakowicka-Straße. Der Bau der Kirche begann im Herbst 1907 nach dem Entwurf von Tadeus Stryjeński und sollte von ihm ausgeführt werden. Wegen der hohen Preise, die seine Baufirma gestellt hat, verzichtete man auf dieses Vorhaben und der Bau wurde dem Krakauer Baumeister Kazimierz Brzeziński anvertraut. Die Kirche wurde aus Backstein mit Verwendung von Stein (das Fundament aus Polygonalmauewerk gebaut. Die Kirche erhebt sich uber einem rechteckingen Grundriss (40 x 21). Sie ist eine dreischiffige Basilika. An den Gemeinderaum schließt das „zweiteilige“ Presbyterium (es scheint eingezogen zu sein und sein zweiter Teil ist etwas niedriger als der erste Teil und im Altarbereich polygonal geschlossen). Die Kirche wurde in zwei Bauabschnitten gebaut: der erste Bauabschnitt 1907-1910; im zweiten Bauabschnitt 1929-1932 um den Gemeinderaum erweitert. Das Hauptschiff ist von den Seitenschiffen durch spitzbögige Arkaden geteilt. Die Fenster sind im Hauptschiff mit Spitzbogen, im Presbyterium mit Rundbogen geschlossen. Zu beiden Seiten des Presbyteriums liegen Annexe (rechts eine Kapelle, links die Sakristei). Zwischen der Sakristei und dem Seitenschiff liegt der Turm, der 50 m hoch ist. Das Äußere der Kirche: Sie besteht aus drei Separatteilen, mit Separatsatteldächern gedeckt. Der Baukörper ist von den Strebepfeilern eingefasst: am Presbyterium sind die Stufenpfeiler, am Gemeinderaum die massiven stufenlosen Strebepfeiler, die mit Zickzackornament versehen sind. An der Fassade stehen die Strebepfeiler schräg an den Ecken. Das Kranzgesims unter dem Dach hat die Zickzackformen. Die Kirche hat zwei Frontone (Frontwände): die Vorderwand der Vorhalle ist mit einem Staffelgiebel geschlossen und die Stirnwand des Gemeinderaumes (hinter ihm) ist mit einem dreieckigen Giebel geschlossen. Der Eingang zur Kirche führt durch ein rechteckiges Portal (mit zweiflügeligen Türen und dem Oberlicht darüber).

Fundacje artystyczne księżniczki bawarskiej Marii Klary Wittelsbach, w zakonie siostry Teresy Marii od św. Józefa (1608-1652), karmelitanki bosej w krakowskim klasztorze św. Marcina

Author(s): Jerzy Żmudziński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2004

Maria Klara Wittelsbach (1608-1652) was a daughter of Ferdinand (brother of Wilhelm V, who ruled in Munich) and Mary. Through her sister she was closely related to the Hapsburgs and Vasas, who ruled in Poland. Beginning with 1618 Maria Clara was brought up at the king’s court in Warsaw. In 1634 she joined the Carmelite order at St. Martin’s church in Cracow and took a name Teresa Maria od sw. Jozefa. In 1649 she was chosen prioress of the convent and in 1652 she died in a plague. On joining the convent the Bavarian princess devoted considerable sums to have a new church built and procure a silver altar set (six altar candlesticks, two chalices, a crucifix, a lamp, a censer), which she ordered in Augsburg, as well as a wooden tabernacle, adorned with silver (the decoration may have been made in Augsburg, too). The altar set was looted by the Swedes during the war 1655-1657. The tabernacle stood on the main altar of St. Martin’s church until 1787, and after the dissolution of the convent it was moved to another church of the same congregation in Cracow (in Kopemika Street). In 1793 the silver decorations from the tabernacle were sold and replaced by a new, much simpler decoration. The tabernacle has been preserved to our times and in its design one can easily trace imitation of a design by an Italian architect Giovanni Battista Montano (1534-1621), released in 1628. No details are known about the silver altar set. There are grounds to infer that the procurement from Augsburg ca 1635 of a sumptuous silver set for religious purposes and its shipment to Cracow helped develop contacts between Cracow’s and Augsburg’s goldsmiths.

Sandro Botticelli

Author(s): Aby Warburg / Language(s): Polish Issue: 791/2021

REFLECȚII ASUPRA CONCEPTULUI DE ARTĂ OBIECTIVĂ ÎN CONTEXTUL ARTEI CONTEMPORANE

Author(s): Carmen Belean / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2020

Reflections on the concept of objective art in the context of contemporary art. Objective art communicates about the human being and his/her place in the universe, about the cosmic laws and the role they play in human life and provide clues as to how man can relate to them. From literary sources attesting to the idea that art in its origin had the role of transmitting knowledge to future generations, we deduce that in ancient times all art forms could be read like a book, and those who knew how to read, fully understood the meaning of the knowledge that was incorporated in these art forms. Nevertheless, there are two forms of art, one very different from the other: objective art and subjective art. Everything that we call art today is subjective art. Objective art is the authentic work resulted from the deliberate, premeditated efforts of a conscious artist. In the act of his creation, the artist avoids or eliminates any subjective or arbitrary element and the impression that such a work evokes in others is always defined.

Pictures at an Exhibition by M. P. Mussorgsky as Perceived by Western and Russian Scholars

Author(s): Svetlana Maddox / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The article is devoted to Mussorgsky’s famous a suite of pieces composed for piano, Pictures at an Exhibition. The author of this study examines, analyzes, and compares divergent perceptions of foreign and Russian scholars about this renowned composition by Mussorgsky. Due to the fact that there is such an array of diverse viewpoints about Pictures at an Exhibition, some of which are conflicting or even contradictory, there is a need to collect, expose, and discuss these findings. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to come to a better understanding of the meaning of Mussorgsky’s composition through a thorough examination of various insights presented by numerous researchers. These discoveries, shared by Western and Russian scholars, will then add to the knowledge of musicologists and performers. Besides, this study introduces viewpoints and ideas expressed by Western scholars from sources that are less known in Eastern Europe.

ЈАПАНСКИ ВРТОВИ од Јапана до Београда

Author(s): Dušan Pajin / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 529/2021

Prikaz izložbe "Vlaho Bukovac - slikarstvo neprolazne lepote"

Author(s): Anđela Dukić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 11/2021

A székelyderzsi templom festett triptichonja

Author(s): Mihály Jánó / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: VIII/2021

Most of the wall paintings of the fortified church in Dârjiu/Székelyderzs, Szeklerland (Harghita county, Romania) which can be seen today, were painted in 1419. The author of the study aimed at art historical research and iconographic analysis of the scenes of saint bishops, the Archangel St. Michael and the conversion of Saul on the south side of the nave, as a result of which he pointed out that this series was painted by and donated to the church by Master Pál Ungi. The image cycle of the legend of St. Ladislaus, located on the north side of the nave, which was also painted by Pál Ungi and his workshop, was commissioned by Bishop of Transylvania, György Pálóci (1419-1423).

Ikonográfiai problémák erdélyi késő gótikus falképeken. Két esettanulmány

Author(s): Anna Kónya / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: VIII/2021

The study analyses two wall painting representations, whose unusual, seemingly inconsistent iconographic features pose challenges for interpretation. The first part of the article focuses on a composition on the northern chancel wall in the parish church of Daia, which has previously been described as an allegory of the Church as a ship. Based on an examination of its iconographic features and compositional analogies, I argue for an identification as the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. At the same time, through the motif of the Crucifixion on the ship’s mast the narrative scene acquires a broader, allegorical meaning and can be fit into a composition type connected to Saint Ursula confraternities, where the vessel of the saint is presented as the ship carrying the community of believers toward the harbour of eternal life under the protection of Christ’s cross. In the second part of the study, I focus on an image of Saint Valentine within the recently discovered wall painting decoration of the southern chancel wall in the former church of the Dominican nunnery in Sibiu. Besides his conventional attribute, an epileptic lying at his feet, the bishop saint is holding a golden monstrance in his left hand, which is an unusual element in his iconography. This attribute also appears in a compositionally similar representation of Saint Valentine in the altarpiece from Bruiu (1520). The common source of both compositions can be identified in a woodcut by Lucas Cranach prepared for the Wittenberger Heiltumsbuch (1509), representing a reliquary statue. While in the original work the monstrance functioned as a container of relics, it acquired a new, eucharistic meaning when the composition was transposed from the printed model into the media of panel and mural painting.

Vízkereszt és Eucharisztia. A háromkirályok imádása-téma eucharisztikus vonatkozásairól

Author(s): Ferenc Veress / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: VIII/2021

According to an old tradition, the fragments of Christ’s manger and cradle are preserved in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, Rome. On Pope Nicholas IV’s commission, Arnolfo di Cambio carved a stone group, representing the Adoration of the Magi (1290–1292) to commemorate the place of the precious relic. In the same time Giotto di Bondone depicted the Miracle of the Manger of Greccio in his fresco series in the Basilica of Assisi. As testified by Giotto’s fresco, clerics and laics participated together in the sacre rappresentazioni aiming to visualise the dialogue between the shepherds and the angels or the arrival of the magi. We possess texts and descriptions of such plays from the 10th century, which are, as I believe in strong relationship with visual arts. In the case of the reliefs of the Cathedral in Pécs, the scene of the Adoration of the Magi was placed originally close to the altar and can probably be discussed as a parallel of the contemporary religious play from Győr, entitled Tractus Stellae. Travelling merchants as well as royal personalities visiting the relic-shrine in Cologne regarded the Magi as their patrons and imitated them through the offering of the gifts during Mass (offertorium). Drama was part of the medieval and the baroque religious life, for example in Florence where the Compagnia dei Magi designed sumptuous processions and stages to mark the feast of the Epiphany. The oratories of the Confraternities are adorned with frescoes representing the childhood of the Saviour as in case of the Compagnia dello Scalzo and the Santissima Annunziata in Florence or the Scuola di San Rocco in Venice. Baroque religious life integrated medieval customs and iconographic types. In the Santa Maria Maggiore a tabernacle was raised above the chapel of the manger (16th century) and the San Pietro Bernini designed his tabernacle imitating the form of the columns of the early San Pietro Basilica.

A kolozsvári Farkas utcai református templom boltozatai

Author(s): Balázs Szőke / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: VIII/2021

The so-called church on Farkas Street (Mihail Kogălniceanu) of Cluj-Napoca is the center of the (city’s) Hungarian Calvinist reformed community, and it is the most important building of the Reformed Diocese of Transylvania. The church was built for the observant Franciscans between 1490 and 1503. The founding of the monastery was connected with King Matthias Hunyadi (1486). The vault of the sanctuary has remained in its original condition. In the 17th century, the vault was renovated to a lesser extent. The combined application of two masonry techniques could have been observed on the cap surfaces of the sanctuary vault. In the attic there were visible the structural elements used for the leveling of the vault’s nodes. The first vault of the nave was destroyed in 1603 during a religious conflict in the town. The rib launches of the demolished late Gothic vault were identified during the restoration works in 2015, and some of its vault nodes and ribs had been found during other works in the past. Based on these data, a theoretical reconstruction of the former vault can be made by using computer methods. The former vault has got some analogies in Transylvania. This complex type of late Gothic net vault occurs exclusively in churches in Transylvania. There are such vaults in the churches of: Nou, Valea Viilor, Cincu, Cloașterf, Dacia, Biertan. The only structurally similar analogy is in the Reformed Church in Nyírbátor (north-eastern Hungary). The workshop has got several works in Transylvania, which still exist today. Although these are not exactly the same type, but the basic design is similar to that of the nave vault of the “Church on Farkas Street”. Several smaller-scale replicas of the vault were built with a brickribbed structure. According to the order of George I. Rákóczi (Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until 1648), the destroyed vault was replaced. This difficult task (the largeness of the nave is around 15 meters) was accomplished in 1643, by a mason master from Gdansk/Danzig. This new star-based net vault relies on the surviving sanctuary vault (which was used as a model), but many of its elements comes from the late Gothic architecture of the Baltic Sea area. Its closest structural analogy can be seen in the Cistercian monastery church in Żarnoviec/Żarnówc/Zarnowitz, Poland, in Kasub region. The structure itself combines the architectural features of two other circles: Central European, including Transylvania, and Northern European, by the Baltic Sea. The structure was built of stone carved ribs. The profile of the rib is of Renaissance style in nature. The poling surfaces are made of brick. In northern architecture, brick was used to fabric the ribs. Their surface is high, and they are like cell vaults. Stone carvers left a “ridge” on the back surface of the stone ribs. All elements of the rib grid connect to the poling surfaces. Th is structure, built in the heyday of Transylvanian late Renaissance architecture, in the 17th century, has got perhaps the largest span of the Baltic-type late Gothic vault. Unfortunately, there was no further follower of this construction technique in Transylvania.