Instytut Sztuki (Warschau) [Hrsg.]; Państwowy Instytut Sztuki (bis 1959) [Hrsg.]; Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki [Hrsg.]: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki (78.2016)

„Śląski Rafael" czy „mistrz czeskiego baroku"?

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"Silesian Raphael" or "Master of Bohemian Baroque"?
Some Remarks on Constructing the Biography of
Christoph Lischka in History of Art

Johann Christoph Lischka was most possibly born in
Wrocław in ca 1650. This uncertainty by the first
date in the painter's life is merely one of the many
inaccuracies that accompany his biography and
oeuvre. An attempt is made to analyze the way in
which the biography of this historical figure has been
written.
Beginning with the earliest studies, researchers
were trying to classify the painter under a definite
nationality. Lischka was defined by both Czech and
German scholars as their "native" artist. These
declarations express the then on-going process of
national identity formation and ambitions to achieve
self-determination. The tensions between the Czech
and German scholars from the early 20th century
exemplify a broader conflict in which historians
perceive the germ of the expansive nationalism of
the Third Reich.
A different voice in the nationality debate was
the view presented by Adam Tomasz Chłędowski,
who in the 19th century regarded Lischka to be
resident of Greater Poland. The thesis criticized, it
however contributed to the theory speaking of
Lischka's "Polish identity" after the change of
Poland's border following World War II. Marian
Morelowski, active in the process of making people
more familiar with the "Regained Territories", was
trying to prove that Lischka was a Pole and
attempted to justify his thesis with the stylistic
analysis of the artist's works.
Morelowski's theories were quickly verified and
in some subsequent Polish publications, scholars
related more to the conclusions of the Czech
scholars Pavel Preiss and Jaromir Neumann who
consolidated the artist's position within the canon of
Bohemian Baroque art. The question of Baroque as
a national style was tackled mainly by Neumann who
created a new image of the era consisting in
a combination of Marxist motifs with a belief in
a "native" character of art from Bohemia. According
to the scholar the national distinctness did not come in
definite formal features, but in the ability to creatively
transform foreign impulses. In his description,
Lischka was a genius painter "Bohemizing" the art of
his "German" master Willmann.
When analysing Lischka's art, the peculiar
situation of the Catholic Church following World War
II in Bohemia has to borne in mind. The majority of

the Church property was taken over by the state, this
allowing for previously inaccessible paintings to be
directly available to museologists and art historians.
Thanks to this in 1966-87, Lischka's canvases could
be viewed in exhibitions all over Europe. Brief
exhibition catalogue descriptions of the paintings
generally cut them off their (Counter-Reformation)
function and destination. It seems that due to this, the
lyrical uplifting language of the description of style
and form replaced the affirmation of the sacral
character of Lischka's works. Emphasizing the role
of convents as the painter's clients and the inclusion
of his paintings in the narration stemming from
devotional practices and Bohemian hagiography
emerged in art history literature only in the 1990s.
Another interesting issue in the research into the
painter's oeuvre is the degree of his dependence on
his stepfather and master Willmann. The oldest
mentions of Lischka are limited to brief statements
about his education in the Lubiąż (Leubus)
workshop, or the imitation of the master's manner.
Starting in the 20th century, there appeared deeper
analyses of the oeuvre of the stepfather and stepson.
A change in Willmann's manner was observed in
reaction to the influence of his disciple educated in
Italy. Rococo elements were noticed in Lischka's
works and some commentators noticed the disciple
had excelled his master in certain respects. A thesis
also appeared in literature that the most famous
Baroque sculpture on Charles Bridge, namely of St
Lutgardis, is to be attributed to Lischka, therefore he
was ranked among the most illustrious artists of the
Bohemian Baroque.
A different approach to the subject was proposed
by Willmann's monographer Andrzej Kozieł who
looked at the Lubiąż workshop as a family business.
In that perspective, Lischka was presented as his
stepfather's most important assistant and advisor.
His work throughout Bohemia was interpreted as
networking and advertising the workshop. In
Koziel's opinion, the painter purposefully mimicked
the manner of the Lubiąż master in order to meet the
founders' expectations. Although the scholar's theses
relate only to the role "Silesian Raphael" played in the
Lubiąż workshop, they have undermined the long-
standing fixed and consolidated vision of the painter
as the forerunner of Rococo and master of key
importance for Baroque in Bohemia. The exclusion