en-61 | QUART

Faculty of Historical and Pedagocial Science

Journal financed by the
Faculty of Historical and Pedagocial Science
at the University of Wroclaw

Issue 3(61)/2021

Editorial

Reading the articles contained in the latest issue of the quarterly, it is easy to notice that art history is a very broad and – to use a recently fashionable word – hybrid discipline. It combines issues of a social and religious nature, concrete historical and political factors, with an artistic element which cannot be definitively determined and named, and which gives to all of these original references an artistic flair that goes far beyond them and ultimately conditions the existence of our discipline.

The texts, this time arranged chronologically, take us to the world of medieval architecture, strongly entangled in the political disputes of the time, for which the sphere of family and dynastic symbolism was very important (Rafał Eysymontt), and to the court funeral ceremonies, so dear to the period, in this case connected with the Silesian dukes and, above all, with the person of Henry IV Probus (Jacek Witkowski). Remaining in the epoch in which religious symbolism largely determined the final shape of a work of art, I would like to draw your attention to works discussing in this context a specific artefact, i.e. the Dessau Altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Younger (Agnieszka Seidel-Grzesińska), as well as relations between power, religion and piety in Lutheran art around 1600 (Marcin Wisłocki). Silesian themes appear once again in an article devoted to the image of St. Hedwig in the paintings of Michael Willmann (Romuald Kaczmarek), and the closer to us era of modern and contemporary fascination with antiquity – in the texts by Jerzy K. Kos and Agata Kubala. In turn, the theme of the work by the author of these words is the present- day reception of the 19th century painting by Jan Matejko, The Battle of Grunwald. The entire issue concludes with Andrzej Frydecki’s reflection on the unrealized 1947 project of the Non-Consolidated Offices in Katowice (Barbara Szczepańska).

In May 2021 unexpectedly and suddenly passed away our Colleague and Friend, an outstanding expert on Baroque art, Dr. Arkadiusz Wojtyła. Two memoirs here are dedicated to this fascinating and colorful person: by Małgorzata Wyrzykowska and Regina Poso. We also dedicate this entire issue to the memory of Dr. Wojtyła. Moreover, we print herein his prior non-published review of Andrzej J. Baranowski’s book.

Dr. Wyrzykowska is also the issue’s thematic editor, and her valuable comments and extensive factual knowledge have thoroughly enriched the volume’s final form, proving that not only battles and love have many names, but also iconographic research – transforming in “Quart” from traditional iconography into soulful and timeless iconology.

On behalf of the Editorial Board
Prof. Dr. habil. Waldemar Okoń

Od redakcji / Editorial