DOI Artikel:
Szybisty, Tomasz: Between light and shadows: reflecting on varied conceptual perspectives on the peculiar lambency suffusing gothic churches as evidenced by German literature from the latter decades of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51154#0006
Folia Historiae Artium
Seria Nowa, t. 17: 2019/PL ISSN 0071-6723
TOMASZ SZYBISTY
Pedagogical University
Corpus Vitrearum Poland
BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOWS:
REFLECTING ON VARIED CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
ON THE PECULIAR LAMBENCY SUFFUSING GOTHIC CHURCHES
AS EVIDENCED BY GERMAN LITERATURE
FROM THE LATTER DECADES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY*
What seems to emanate from the dominant tenor per-
meating the scholarship dedicated to exploring the early
nineteenth century resurgence of stained-glass ornamen-
tation is the significant function ascribed to the varie-
gated ‘mystical’ twilight, which is thought to have played
a pivotal role in the expansion of the renewed interest
in this form of art.* 1 However, within the compass of this
artistic genre, no efforts have hitherto been taken to at-
tempt comprehensive research into the reasons behind
’ A few passages from this article appeared in: T. Szybisty, ‘Rola
światła w percepcji gotyku pod koniec XVIII i na początku XIX
wieku - na przykładzie wybranych utworów z literatury niemiec-
kiej’, in Światło i ciemność w literaturze, kulturze i sztuce. Od an-
tyku do współczesności, ed. by D. Szymonik, E. Kozak, A. Pogoda-
-Kołodziejak, Siedlce, 2015, pp. 15-23.
1 D. Parello, Anspruch und Wirklichkeit in der religiösen Kunst-
industrie am Beispiel der rheinischen Glasmalereiwerkstätten
Baudri und Oidtmann, in Renaissance der Gotik. Widerstand ge-
gen die Staatsgewalt? Kolloquium zur Kunst der Neugotik, ed. by
U. Schubert, S. Mann, Goch, 2003, p. 172. See, for example, also:
D. Hess, ‘Romantic Atmosphere and the Invocation of the Past.
Motifs and Functions of Early Stained Glass Collections around
1800’, Revista de Historia da Arte, 3: Collecting through Connec-
tions. Glass and Stained-glass Collectors and Their Networks in the
Nineteenth Century, 2015, pp. 9-10; E. Vaassen, Bilder auf Glas.
Glasgemälde zwischen 1780 und 1870, Munich and Berlin, 1997,
p. 28; D. Parello, ‘Heimle - Merzweiler - Geiges. Die Glasmale-
rei des 19. Jahrhunderts in Freiburg’, in Aufleuchten des Mittelal-
ters. Glasmalerei des 19. Jahrhunderts in Freiburg, exh. cat., Augu-
stinermuseum Freiburg, 26. Mai bis 3. September 2000, Freiburg
im Breisgau, 2000, p. 7.
the fascination at the time with that kind of ambient inte-
rior illumination, nor has there been any serious discus-
sion of the conceptual associations triggered by that kind
of twilight.
Therefore it behooves any thorough art-historical in-
vestigation to comprehensively address the full spectrum
of aspects underpinning this phenomenon, chief among
them being aesthetic, religious and social matters as well
as issues bound up with specific cultural idiosyncrasies
and regional character. This article undertakes to out-
line, albeit in a preliminary and incomplete way, a hand-
ful of conclusions regarding the diversified perception of
the ambient light inside Gothic churches. In addition, the
remit of this paper is confined to the years at the turn of
the nineteenth century, as well as being focused exclusive-
ly on publications in the German language; little wonder
that with these self-imposed limitations, the contribution
made by the ideas presented below can be but humble.
Seen through the eyes of Suger, Abbot of the French
Abbey of Saint-Denis and the spiritus movens behind the
early Gothic reconstruction of that church, as well as for
some medieval authors singing the praises of the magnifi-
cence of churches of the medieval era, such interiors were
literally awash with ambient resplendence.2 Of course, one
will justifiably call into question the absolute veracity or
relevance of such depictions. This is because even though
2 Numerous medieval texts on this subject are compiled and com-
mented on by G. Binding, Die Bedeutung von Licht und Farbe für
den mittelalterlichen Kirchenbau, Stuttgart, 2003 (Sitzungsberich-
te der wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft an der Johann Wolfgang
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 41, no. 3), pp. 129-171.
[ÜB
Publikacja jest udostępniona na licencji Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL).
Seria Nowa, t. 17: 2019/PL ISSN 0071-6723
TOMASZ SZYBISTY
Pedagogical University
Corpus Vitrearum Poland
BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOWS:
REFLECTING ON VARIED CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES
ON THE PECULIAR LAMBENCY SUFFUSING GOTHIC CHURCHES
AS EVIDENCED BY GERMAN LITERATURE
FROM THE LATTER DECADES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
AND THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY*
What seems to emanate from the dominant tenor per-
meating the scholarship dedicated to exploring the early
nineteenth century resurgence of stained-glass ornamen-
tation is the significant function ascribed to the varie-
gated ‘mystical’ twilight, which is thought to have played
a pivotal role in the expansion of the renewed interest
in this form of art.* 1 However, within the compass of this
artistic genre, no efforts have hitherto been taken to at-
tempt comprehensive research into the reasons behind
’ A few passages from this article appeared in: T. Szybisty, ‘Rola
światła w percepcji gotyku pod koniec XVIII i na początku XIX
wieku - na przykładzie wybranych utworów z literatury niemiec-
kiej’, in Światło i ciemność w literaturze, kulturze i sztuce. Od an-
tyku do współczesności, ed. by D. Szymonik, E. Kozak, A. Pogoda-
-Kołodziejak, Siedlce, 2015, pp. 15-23.
1 D. Parello, Anspruch und Wirklichkeit in der religiösen Kunst-
industrie am Beispiel der rheinischen Glasmalereiwerkstätten
Baudri und Oidtmann, in Renaissance der Gotik. Widerstand ge-
gen die Staatsgewalt? Kolloquium zur Kunst der Neugotik, ed. by
U. Schubert, S. Mann, Goch, 2003, p. 172. See, for example, also:
D. Hess, ‘Romantic Atmosphere and the Invocation of the Past.
Motifs and Functions of Early Stained Glass Collections around
1800’, Revista de Historia da Arte, 3: Collecting through Connec-
tions. Glass and Stained-glass Collectors and Their Networks in the
Nineteenth Century, 2015, pp. 9-10; E. Vaassen, Bilder auf Glas.
Glasgemälde zwischen 1780 und 1870, Munich and Berlin, 1997,
p. 28; D. Parello, ‘Heimle - Merzweiler - Geiges. Die Glasmale-
rei des 19. Jahrhunderts in Freiburg’, in Aufleuchten des Mittelal-
ters. Glasmalerei des 19. Jahrhunderts in Freiburg, exh. cat., Augu-
stinermuseum Freiburg, 26. Mai bis 3. September 2000, Freiburg
im Breisgau, 2000, p. 7.
the fascination at the time with that kind of ambient inte-
rior illumination, nor has there been any serious discus-
sion of the conceptual associations triggered by that kind
of twilight.
Therefore it behooves any thorough art-historical in-
vestigation to comprehensively address the full spectrum
of aspects underpinning this phenomenon, chief among
them being aesthetic, religious and social matters as well
as issues bound up with specific cultural idiosyncrasies
and regional character. This article undertakes to out-
line, albeit in a preliminary and incomplete way, a hand-
ful of conclusions regarding the diversified perception of
the ambient light inside Gothic churches. In addition, the
remit of this paper is confined to the years at the turn of
the nineteenth century, as well as being focused exclusive-
ly on publications in the German language; little wonder
that with these self-imposed limitations, the contribution
made by the ideas presented below can be but humble.
Seen through the eyes of Suger, Abbot of the French
Abbey of Saint-Denis and the spiritus movens behind the
early Gothic reconstruction of that church, as well as for
some medieval authors singing the praises of the magnifi-
cence of churches of the medieval era, such interiors were
literally awash with ambient resplendence.2 Of course, one
will justifiably call into question the absolute veracity or
relevance of such depictions. This is because even though
2 Numerous medieval texts on this subject are compiled and com-
mented on by G. Binding, Die Bedeutung von Licht und Farbe für
den mittelalterlichen Kirchenbau, Stuttgart, 2003 (Sitzungsberich-
te der wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft an der Johann Wolfgang
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 41, no. 3), pp. 129-171.
[ÜB
Publikacja jest udostępniona na licencji Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL).