Kształcenie konserwatorów zabytków w Instytucie Zabytkoznawstwa i Konserwatorstwa Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu

• Authors: Domasłowski Wiesław

Title variants

EN

THE TEACHING OF MONUMENT CONSERVATORS AT THE INSTITUTE OF CONSERVATION AND CONNOISSEURSHIP, COPERNICUS UNIVERSITY, TORUŃ

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The Institute of Conservation and Connoisseurship existing within the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Copernicus University, Toruń hais as its task the teaching of specialists in the field of conservation i(theory), museology, conservation and restoration of paintings and polychromed sculptures, of conservation and restoration of paper and leather and, finally, of conservation and restoration of architectural details, at the same time conducting research work in the respective didactic lines. The educational processes at the Institute are specific as to their nature which the fact can be attributed to interconnection of the human, naltural and a rtistic branches within the same University. It was "this interconnection in fact th a t had essentially influenced the scope of conservator education within which both theoretical and p r a c tc a l studies could be firmly interlocked. A quite special type of conservation school was created where the problems of knowledge relating to monuments, th e ir protection and p re se rvation together with those forming scientific basis of conservation are inseparately linked with the conservation practice, with restoration, conservation and investigations on monuments in the broader sense of expression. The Institute consists of six didactic and research divisions, namely, th a t of Technology and Artistic Techniques, Mobile Monument Conservation, Paper and Leather Conservation, Architectural Detail Conservation, Conservation Art, and Museology and History of Art, employing 3'9 workers under contracts and the other eleven giving the lectures on the non-constant employment basis. However, the above figures do not comprise the members of teaching staff involved in non-specialised subjects as e.g. philosophy, foreign languages and s.o. The teaching and scientific staff is composed of a rt historians, conservators specializing in the theory ,of conservation, m u seologists, the artists practically active in the field of conservation, conservators 'specializing in technological problems, the chemists, physists, microbiologists, architects, painters, engravers, photographers and book binders. . The complete courses of studies at the Institute, ir re spectively of specialization chosen by a student are lasting for a fdve-year period. After presenting a diploma work and passing through the series of p re scribed examinations the graduates take a degree of master of conservation and connoisseurship within the specific branch. No more than twenty five to th irty candidates are admitted to the In stitu te to s ta rt the studies and the number of those graduated up to- the present day amounts to 242. Graduates with practical specializations (e.g. conservation of paintings, paper or architectural details) in addition to their 'skills enabling them to undertake the conservation and restoration of monuments are adequately trained to be able to evaluate the works of art, to prepare a historical, iconographie or inventory documentation, to investigate the state ,of p re servation or find the cause of damages suffered by objects. The level of their professional training is by no means less adequate in technological and technical (investigations, ’in works requiring knowledge to prepa re a proper documentation (in form of d ra wings, paintings, photographs, as well as th a t using X-ray or other raying methods of analysis) and to conduct the research work and introduce modifications in materials applied )n conservation. Graduates havlinig theoretical specializations (art of conservation and museology) leave the In stitu te with a supply of basic knowledge allowing to meet the needs arising in conservation work and within a normal museum practice (connoisseurship) with a special stress put on morphological analysis, evaluation and a ttributing the monuments pf a rt being a subject of the conservator’s and museologist’s interest. During the course of their studies they are also trained in history, theory and th e basic practical problems ■involved-in a conservator’s or museologist’s activities and acquire a number of practical professional skills (e.g. preparing of inventories and survey-and-drawing documentation, photography, preparing of museum shows and exhibitions etc.). In addition to their educational activities the Institute workers carry out a number of research works the results of which are published in a specialized periodical „Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, seria Zabytkoznawstwo i Konserwatorstwp” (The Scientific Papers of the Nicolaus iCopernicus University, Toruń, series: Connoisseurshiip and Conservation) or in other Polish and foreign specialized periodicals. A special mention should be devpted to works r e lating to conservation of monuments from wood, stone, brick, glass and paintings, those dealing with technical and technological investigations on mortars and plasters, research work aimed at finding the method to identify the p ain ter’s putties and pigments, works connected with identification of micro-organisms and th e ir destruction, those dealing with the conservation of iron; no less interesting are the research works in the field of both history and theory of monument protection and conservation, organisation ,of conservation service, collectioning and museum activities, those connected with problems of a rt history and history of aesthetic judgements, history of architecture (mediaeval and modern), town- planning including problems of conservation, history of building techniques, and works relating to the late-mediaeval sculpture and painting with special stress laid upon the problems of iconography and also those concerning the painting of the 10th and the 20th centuries. As may be seen fr,om the above list of research themes there are possibilities at the Institute to develop a rath e r many-sided range of problems and the widely varying research lines. This is possible owing to interconnection of human and n atura l sciences. As a result of the said interconnection the work of a rt being the main subject of all research work involved can be analysed many-sidedly both as to its form and subject and also with respect to its material substance with a particular stress on factors causing the damages to this substance, its protection, preservation, fixing or reinforcing. In tight connection with the above problems can also be analysed those of protection of monuments and th e ’r display in museums. Thus, it may be said that works carried on at the Institute represent a new kind of interdisciplinary branch of knowledge which enables to investigate universally the work of a rt and to subject it to conservating treatment.

Keywords

PL

kształcenie konserwatorów; Uniwersytet M. Kopernika w Toruniu; studia konserwatorskie

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1971
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 106-114

Dates

published

1971

Contributors

author

Domasłowski Wiesław

• doc. dr hab., Instytut Zabytkoznawstwa i Konserwatorstwa UMK Toruń