Odkrycie i konserwacja malowideł ściennych w kościele św. Marcina w Jaworze

• Authors: Stec Mieczysław

Title variants

EN

THE DISCOVERY AND CONSERVATION OF MURAL PAINTINGS IN ST MARTIN’S CHURCH IN JAWOR

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The present article is of a controversial nature. It concerns aesthetic activities associated with the conservation of mural paintings discovered in St Martin’s Church in Jawor in the Silesia. The attitude of a monuments conservator to the original painting layer depends on basic problems in the field of ethics and aesthetics of this profession. This is not a new problem, but it is always solved with some impact on part of aesthetic opinions. The respect for the original parts is in contradiction to the requirements that uncovered paintings should be comprehensible to the recipients. An important element is also to make the original colouring concept of the painting understandable as well. These questions are also covered by conservation discussion. The paintings date back to the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. Their main theme is a stylized, rich in leaves, plant twigs’ motif. They used to cover a presbytery’s vaulting. In the 16th century the paintings were covered with a white layer of repainting. Studies carried out by Cracow’s Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Monuments’ Conservation, have specified the colouring and identified all pigments. It has been agreed that a subtle decorative arrangement exposed constructional elements of vaultings and it treated separately the fields between ribs. This is a consistent colouring concept, arranging the vaulting space in a medieval church. The discovery of paintings has resulted in their full exposure from under repaintings. At the same time it has been found out that quite a big part has been ruined. A conservation programme has clearly specified the need to make up the fnissing parts of plant twigs In order to obtain an artistic antity of a Gothic zone of vaultings. Still, major changes that took place in the colour of green and red under the effect of a lime layer of repainting have not been taken into consideration. The programme of "making up the painting in accordance with the exisiting colouring” has become controversial. Though the reconstruction of the outline did not pose any difficulties just as the preserved vestige allowed it despite a dissociation of pigment, still a colour arrangement obtained during reconstruction has been totally different from the original. Only after putting down the scaffolding, when it was possible to assess the results of the work from a distance of 15 m. on a scale comparable with the architecture of the interior, a controversial effect of the work done could be seen. The author presents a report of the discussions that followed it. It is not possible to give full argumentation of this polemics. The result of this discussion was a decision on the reconstruction of the original colouring. The author raises however some other doubts. The case is that undertints of green and red were neglected during the reconstruction, which deprived reconstructed ornaments of their artistic appearance. The author points out that he is aware of controversies found between the uncovered parts of the original and two concepts of the reconstruction of paintings. The basic question that flows from the present considerations is: ,,To what degree should the doubts of a conservator be visible to the visitors? Where is a borderline with regard to interpretation? In what way can a conservator restoring the painting express his view in the object which is the subject of his work?

Keywords

PL

konserwacja malowideł ściennych; kościół św. Marcina w Jaworze; dekoracja malarska; założenia rekonstrukcji

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1987
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 277-283

Dates

published

1987

Contributors

author

Stec Mieczysław

• Kraków

References

• W. W i l c z y ń s k a - K o p e r , Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne miasta Jawora. Wrocław 1980, t. I, s. 56-58.
• M. Stec, Dokumentacja konserwatorska polichromii sklepienia nawy południowej kościoła Św. Marcina w Jaworze. Kraków 1985.

Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247