O malowidle Chrystus jako „Fons Vitae” z pocysterskiego kościoła parafialnego św. św. Jakuba Starszego i Mikołaja Biskupa w Mechowie koło Pucka

• Authors: Piotr Rumanowski

Title variants

EN

On the painting Christ as “Fons Vitae” from the former Cistercian parish church of St. James the Greater and St. Nicholas in Mechowo near Puck

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article approaches the issue of the cultural heritage of the Pomerelia Cistercians. The monks were patrons of art and initiated the creation of numerous paintings. Their activity gained particular importance following the Council of Trent, when the Church acknowledged the role of the iconographic expression as a medium for the propagation of the Catholic faith. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas’s thought, it revived the notion of the didactic function of paintings, which at the same time served decorative purposes in churches. In the Reformation period, painting had to appeal to the faithful because the dissenters questioned the dogmas of faith and the role of art in temples. After the Council of Trent, the Cistercians initiated pastoral work among the faithful. The new activity – the defense of the dogmas of faith – required collaboration with the world of arts. In order to carry out their plans, the Cistercians engaged the services of outstanding painters, among them Gdańsk-based Herman Han. The works from this master’s workshop found many imitators. His copyists’ style exhibited characteristics referred to as the school of Herman Han. Among its works there is a painting titled Christ as “Fons Vitae” from the Seven Sacraments altar in the Cistercian church in Pelplin. The paintings content symbolically illustrates the close relationship between Christ’s Passion and the Church’s sacraments, and was meant to be a response to the dissenters’ questioning of the role of sacraments. The painting in question has a copy: a painting at the parish church in Mechowo, a village near Puck, formerly located within the boundaries of the Cistercian dominion. The motif of Christ represented as a spring of life has not received art historians’ attention; no stylistic or historical analysis of the work has been made so far. The author approaches the issue of the Mechowo replica, endeavouring to explain the iconographic sources of the depicted figures, determine the history of the painting, and assess its artistic value. The painting attracted the author’s attention, since it evidences a new form of monks’ activity, not exclusively in municipal centres. The article reminds the readers of the existence of works commissioned by Cistercian patrons, important for the history of the Church, kept in small, often obscure temples.

Keywords

PL

Pomorze; Mechowo; cystersi; kontrreformacja; barok; malarstwo; ikonografia; Jezus Chrystus; sakramenty

EN

Pomerelia; Mechowo; Cistercians; Counter-Reformation; Baroque; painting; iconography; Jesus Christ; sacraments

• Journal: Hereditas Monasteriorium
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 4
• Pages: 173-196

Contributors

author

Piotr Rumanowski

• Puck