Stan prac nad "Katalogiem zabytków sztuki w Polsce"

• Authors: Pokora Jakub

Title variants

EN

THE STATE OF WORK ON THE CATALOGUE OF ART MONUMENTS IN POLAND

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

Introductory principles of a series entitled "The Catalogue of Art Monuments in Poland” were set out in 1945. At the beginning it was meant as a publication prepared pa ra I lei ly with a detailed topographic register. Still, contrary to the register, its aim was the possibly soonest rendering of the possessed cultural property, rescued from the war havoc. In compliance with these principles the catalogue was to be simply a profesionally elaborated register of preserved monuments (except for museum objects). Therefore, the adopted mode of recording was very concise. The information contained in it was based on the basic literature on the subject (without archival sources). The illustrative part concerned only major works. Such a catalogue did not have its equivalent in Europe, although it derived from a classical "Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmaler" by Georg Dehio. When it became necessary to give up the edition of the register, the catalogue became a basic source of scientific information on the Polish artistic and cultural heritage. The minimalisation of the adopted assumptions became then particularly obvious and it was necessary to depart from it in favour of completeness and greater accuracy in preparing the material. The process was being accomplished gradually in the sixties and assumed finally a present form of the catalogue which is something intermediate between a detailed topographic register and a concise catalogue similar to Dehio’s "H a n d b u ch .............” . A factual and formal arrangement as well as a printing get-up of the catalogue have remained unchanged. However, the scope of the work has been markedly extended. A top limit, originally set at ca 1850, has been shifted to include the 20th century. Descriptions of monuments have also been expanded. Historic information has been based on the comprehensive literature on the subject and on archival documents. Introductory notes and indexes have been introduced and the number of illustrations has got increased. The work on each subsequent edition of the catalogue is a team and multi-stage work. It is carried out in the Department for Monuments’ Cataloguing of the Institute of Fine Arts attached to the Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw and in three field workshops in Cracow, Gdansk and Poznań. 176 issues of the catalogue have been published since 1951. They covered nearly ca 60 per cent of the territory of Poland. After the restructuring of the administrative division of the country (1975) the edition of the New Series of the catalogue has been taken up. It corresponded to newly created districts. At the same time it was decided to complete the Old Series according to the earlier administrative division. In 1965 catalogues which presented monuments found in big towns (Cracow and then Poznań) began to appear. At present preliminary work is being carried out on Toruń, while work on Częstochowa, Warsaw and Gdańsk is already much more advanced. At the same time the work has been undertaken to verify the old minimalistic model (former Cracow voivodship). The pace of work on the catalogue depends mainly on a technical and financial base (it is necessary to travel frequently into the country) and on staff possibilities. The shortage of manpower has an inhibitory effect upon this pace. If it is not sped up then, as can be supposed, the series entitled "The Catalogue of Art Monuments in Poland” will not be completed earier than in 20 years’ time.

Keywords

PL

"Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce"; ewidencja zabytków; Dehio Handbuch; Zakład Inwentaryzacji Zabytków Instytutu Sztuki PAN

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1988
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 228-229

Dates

published

1988

Contributors

author

Pokora Jakub

• dr, Instytut Sztuki PAN

Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247