Nietypowe metody badawcze w analizie dzieł sztuki

• Authors: Schuster-Gawłowska Małgorzata , Kaczanowski Krzysztof

Title variants

EN

ATYPICAL RESEARCH METHODS IN AN ANALYSIS OF ARTWORKS

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

Upon many occasions the natural sciences assist in solving the difficult problems of the identification of artworks. One of those sciences is anthropology. In conservation praxis I had encountered many questions which could be resolved by means of anthropological investigations and in two cases I resorted to such an analysis. In the course of work conducted in 1977 whose purpose was to ascribe the authorship of a portrait of Elizabeth Bourbon, part of the Wawel Collection in Cracow, to P.P. Rubens, I proposed that dr. Krzysztof Kaczanowski, an anthropologist from Jagiellonian University, conduct an analysis with the help of methods applied in his particular discipline. The analysis consisted of comparing photographs of a series of depictions of the queen's face from different periods (beginning with a young girl up to a woman ca. 44 years old) and painted by various authors, with the depictions which are regarded as copies of the portrait made by Rubens in Madrid in 1628. Those copies included i.a. the Cracow composition. The ensuing analysis, calculations and comparisons made it apperent that the Cracow painting revels.all the features of an original work, i.e. does not mechanically imitate facial features and details of dress, as was the case of the other copies. In the second instance the anthropological analysis (also thanks to K. Kaczanowski) was employed for identifying models painted by Jan Massys (1509-1575). I was able to collect 19 likenesses of the same model among all his sheretofore published works. A photographic comparison involved whole compositions and faces enlarged on the same scale. The 18 paintings whose author is definitely proven include „Caritas", in the Wawel collection, of doubtrful authorship. An anthropological analysis demonstrated that in all cases the model was the same (with the exception of „The Family of Tobias"). The further part of the study was a similar analysis of children portrayed in those compositions. In conclusion I propose the hypothesis that the model is the author's wife, Anna van Tuylt de Diest. She was never portayed directly, but always as part of the extensive iconography, usually in scenes from the Old Testament. The painter depicted her in various stages of a 24 year-long period-young, mature, feeding, pregnant, with children etc. The children in the paintings are undoubtedly hers and the author's. Further studies reveal that at a certain stage of his work Jan Massys began painting his daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth, both very similar to their mother. His father, Quentin, also probably portrayed members of the family. The above findings provide still another argument for ascribing „Caritas" to Jan Massys. The results obtained due to the application of an anthropologial metod appear to contain the conclusion that the participation the natural science in the identification of paintings is undeniable although still not sufficiently appreciated and exploited. . (translated by A. Rodzińska- Chojnowska)

Keywords

PL

identyfikacja dzieł sztuki; badanie dzieł sztuki; antropologia; Jan Massys; anatomoantropologia

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1992
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 143-158

Dates

published

1992

Contributors

author

Schuster-Gawłowska Małgorzata

author

Kaczanowski Krzysztof

References

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Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247