DOI Heft:
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DOI Artikel:Bałus, Wojciech: Jan Białostocki and George Kubler: in an attempt to catch up with the system
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31178#0126
/AorGAArt 2'% /A rřt^rA 0^ /A ^r/ o/ o/tr /?AA', who
has written a "/htrAAfyg AoA'2 His conception was
to háve constituted a teply to the crisis of the con-
cept of style, and above all, an attempt to ovetcome
the paradtgm of stylistic unity of petiods and the
single-hle match of styles thtoughout historyd He
was able to show that at evety moment of history
thete co-exist numerous developmental sequences
which cteate, as it wete, bundles of tradition; and
thus a single art product contains forms which are
descended from the earlier phases of évolution, that
is, it is not possible to create a monograph of a single
object, without taking into considération the above-
mentioned sequencesb He introduced the concepts
of "pnAi? o<pAA" and their "rtpPAt" which hark back
to them, in this way creating a category which is in
some way similar to Braudeks "Aygw tAAf", and in
this way created the possibility of classifying, e.g.,
the Polish sepulchral dome chapels from the period
of the Renaissance, with the Sigismund Chapel as a
Finaliy, he prepared instruments which
enabled one to analvze and understand the function-
ing of the concepts of tradition and innovation^
All of the above-quoted arguments (except
the comparison to Braudel) had already been pre-
sented in the review of TA bApr y/ TA?A Thus Jan
Bialostocki's attitude toward Kubler's theory was en-
tirely positive, regardless of some critical comments,
mainly regarding his évaluation of iconology. Thus,
one is bound to ask, what had caused Bialostocki's
fascination?
^ BIALOSTOCKI, P "Ait" und "Neu" in der Kunstgeschichte.
In: JArAA 20, 1975.
" BIALOSTOCKI, p Pojçcia 1 problémy wspólczesnej historii
sztuki [Tkc Concepts and Problems in Contemporary History
of Art]. In: RiS I, pp. 9-22; HSWNH, pp. 48-50.
^ BIALOSTOCKI, J.: Rokoko: ornament, styl i postawa [Ro-
coco: Ornament, Style and Attitude], In: RiS I, pp. 168-169;
BIALOSTOCKI, J.: O faktach i uogólnieniach w historii
sztuki [On Facts and Generaüzations in Art History]. In: RiS
I, pp. 252-253; HSWNH, pp. 49-51.
' BIALOSTOCKI 1975 (see m note 4); BIALOSTOCKI, J.:
Renesans polski i renesans europejski [The Polish and the
European Renaissance]. In: RiS I, p. 42; BIALOSTOCKI,).:
TAMrt of Ař Rř/MT.M%íť A BoAwA,
PoAA. Oxford [a.o.] 1976; HSWNH, pp. 51, 78.
II.
Sergiusz Michalski once remarked that Biaiostocki
was not a typical iconologist. In his substantial aca-
demie output, there is no "HygP nAby lAFA iroAP
A? yf Ař
Á/?... pór Ať pry/?n*or... pry/KrA Kor/ tAAK yp Ač*
To^ygryy^T " A ybr
yp ErAoPnA/oAr
rApy or? Æ?opp yp Aí' Eoor <9/ ' A rybAAw/
tr//p)A/ry AA yp irfrf tw pt?r7A/
ywA /yyA'T" In reality, the majority of
Bialostocki's iconographie studies háve concrète and
quite precisely deňned topics; nonetheless, in most
cases, the researcher's goal here was not to explain
a single work of art, but to present a reconstruction
of a sequence of transformations which thèmes had
undergone in the course of their existence. In his
review of Kubler's book, Biaiostocki remarked that
iconography scholars may also be interested in "A-
0/ roAAwr", particularly when they "py A pAF
oA Air A<? JZMW AA or /A zyyA A A ^xp^-^A
Py ^r7 A zwAwr wowfnA".* * Thus although in the case
of "/A Aor yp Az?A", it was the Warsaw tomb of Jan
Tarlo that became the pretext for the article, yet its
hnal version showed the presence of the motif from
antiquity up to the twentieth centuryT Giorgione's
painting had stimulated deliberations on the transfor-
mations of the character of Judith from the time of
the Middle Ages to the period of Art Nouveau.* ' The
focus on the process of "/oypw <ArA" is best visible
s BIALOSTOCKI 1975 (see m note 4); BIALOSTOCKI, J.:
Tradycja i innowaeja [Tradition and Innovation], In: RiS II,
p. 16.
Review of Kubler, pp. 135-137.
^ MICHALSKI 1999 (see in note 2), pp. 57, 58.
" Review of Kubler, p. 138.
^ BIALOSTOCKI, J.: The Door of Death: Survival of a
Classical Motif in Sepulchral Art. In: MI, pp. 14-41.
^ BIALOSTOCKI, J.: Judith: The Story, the Image, and the
Symbol. Giorgione's Painting in the Evolution of the Theme.
In: MI, pp. 113-131.
120
has written a "/htrAAfyg AoA'2 His conception was
to háve constituted a teply to the crisis of the con-
cept of style, and above all, an attempt to ovetcome
the paradtgm of stylistic unity of petiods and the
single-hle match of styles thtoughout historyd He
was able to show that at evety moment of history
thete co-exist numerous developmental sequences
which cteate, as it wete, bundles of tradition; and
thus a single art product contains forms which are
descended from the earlier phases of évolution, that
is, it is not possible to create a monograph of a single
object, without taking into considération the above-
mentioned sequencesb He introduced the concepts
of "pnAi? o<pAA" and their "rtpPAt" which hark back
to them, in this way creating a category which is in
some way similar to Braudeks "Aygw tAAf", and in
this way created the possibility of classifying, e.g.,
the Polish sepulchral dome chapels from the period
of the Renaissance, with the Sigismund Chapel as a
Finaliy, he prepared instruments which
enabled one to analvze and understand the function-
ing of the concepts of tradition and innovation^
All of the above-quoted arguments (except
the comparison to Braudel) had already been pre-
sented in the review of TA bApr y/ TA?A Thus Jan
Bialostocki's attitude toward Kubler's theory was en-
tirely positive, regardless of some critical comments,
mainly regarding his évaluation of iconology. Thus,
one is bound to ask, what had caused Bialostocki's
fascination?
^ BIALOSTOCKI, P "Ait" und "Neu" in der Kunstgeschichte.
In: JArAA 20, 1975.
" BIALOSTOCKI, p Pojçcia 1 problémy wspólczesnej historii
sztuki [Tkc Concepts and Problems in Contemporary History
of Art]. In: RiS I, pp. 9-22; HSWNH, pp. 48-50.
^ BIALOSTOCKI, J.: Rokoko: ornament, styl i postawa [Ro-
coco: Ornament, Style and Attitude], In: RiS I, pp. 168-169;
BIALOSTOCKI, J.: O faktach i uogólnieniach w historii
sztuki [On Facts and Generaüzations in Art History]. In: RiS
I, pp. 252-253; HSWNH, pp. 49-51.
' BIALOSTOCKI 1975 (see m note 4); BIALOSTOCKI, J.:
Renesans polski i renesans europejski [The Polish and the
European Renaissance]. In: RiS I, p. 42; BIALOSTOCKI,).:
TAMrt of Ař Rř/MT.M%íť A BoAwA,
PoAA. Oxford [a.o.] 1976; HSWNH, pp. 51, 78.
II.
Sergiusz Michalski once remarked that Biaiostocki
was not a typical iconologist. In his substantial aca-
demie output, there is no "HygP nAby lAFA iroAP
A? yf Ař
Á/?... pór Ať pry/?n*or... pry/KrA Kor/ tAAK yp Ač*
To^ygryy^T " A ybr
yp ErAoPnA/oAr
rApy or? Æ?opp yp Aí' Eoor <9/ ' A rybAAw/
tr//p)A/ry AA yp irfrf tw pt?r7A/
ywA /yyA'T" In reality, the majority of
Bialostocki's iconographie studies háve concrète and
quite precisely deňned topics; nonetheless, in most
cases, the researcher's goal here was not to explain
a single work of art, but to present a reconstruction
of a sequence of transformations which thèmes had
undergone in the course of their existence. In his
review of Kubler's book, Biaiostocki remarked that
iconography scholars may also be interested in "A-
0/ roAAwr", particularly when they "py A pAF
oA Air A<? JZMW AA or /A zyyA A A ^xp^-^A
Py ^r7 A zwAwr wowfnA".* * Thus although in the case
of "/A Aor yp Az?A", it was the Warsaw tomb of Jan
Tarlo that became the pretext for the article, yet its
hnal version showed the presence of the motif from
antiquity up to the twentieth centuryT Giorgione's
painting had stimulated deliberations on the transfor-
mations of the character of Judith from the time of
the Middle Ages to the period of Art Nouveau.* ' The
focus on the process of "/oypw <ArA" is best visible
s BIALOSTOCKI 1975 (see m note 4); BIALOSTOCKI, J.:
Tradycja i innowaeja [Tradition and Innovation], In: RiS II,
p. 16.
Review of Kubler, pp. 135-137.
^ MICHALSKI 1999 (see in note 2), pp. 57, 58.
" Review of Kubler, p. 138.
^ BIALOSTOCKI, J.: The Door of Death: Survival of a
Classical Motif in Sepulchral Art. In: MI, pp. 14-41.
^ BIALOSTOCKI, J.: Judith: The Story, the Image, and the
Symbol. Giorgione's Painting in the Evolution of the Theme.
In: MI, pp. 113-131.
120