DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29252#0055
PORTRAITS AND
HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF THE OLELKOVICH DUKES IN SLUTSK.
THE INVENTORY MADE BY JÓZEF SMOLIŃSKI IN 1904
The Polish Academy of Sciences, Arts Institute
Library in Warsaw keeps in its book collection
a manuscript entitled Portrety ?' zohytkt Us7qźqf
O/e/kowtczdw w (Special Collection, rec. no.
621), which is the result of the inventory work
carried out by Józef Smoliński in 1904. The text is
illustrated by 14 photographs taken at that time by
the author in E. J. Rakova's atelier in Slutsk and 31
freehand drawings (including 10 in colour), ad-
ditionally freehand copies of 21 pages of a docu-
ment dating from 1587.
Ninety years later since its emergence, not only
that the work in point did not decrease in value but,
on the contrary, it has acquired a new quality. Two
successive World Wars, and perhaps even to a grea-
ter degree the years of Soviet regime, have cont-
ributed to a complete annihilation of the objects of
historic value, described by J. Smoliński. Accordin-
gly, the manuscript he has left behind is today one of
the few items of evidence for the former greatness of
the then splendid city of Slutsk, while the excellent
illustrative material that complements the text is
utterly priceless.
Józef Smoliński (1865-1927), a graduate from the
Warsaw School of Drawings headed by Wojciech
Gerson, was an accomplished painter, who also
went in for conservation work. His interests, howe-
ver, were not only limited to strictly artistic issues.
A lucky combination of his artistic talents with
interest in history made of him an utterly perfect
documentalist. The opinion I have expressed is both
a recognition of the fact that this text is still another
proof in support of the belief that the inventory of
objects of historic value is crucial and highly
needed, and my paying tribute to my predecessor in
this profession.
During my recent visit to Slutsk I had an oppor-
tunity to see with my own eyes that the historic
buildings have virtually completely disappeared and
how deeply the character of the city has changed on
the one hand, and with what solicitude and care is the
modest museum managed there. I must admit that
the accomplishments of its employees command
respect and has made me eager to made my specific
contribution to their endeavours. The best way
I could think of was to bring the inventory materials
collected by Józef Smolihski's to publication, as thus
a tiny fragment of the artistic heritage of Sluck could
be resuscitated, and the merits of man could be
recalled, owing to whose work and sensibility this
task is feasible today.
The subject of his inventory-maker's interest and
investigation was the Orthodox Holy Trinity mona-
stery in Slutsk. The appearance of the church,
known from the water-colour by Napoleon Orda
(Fig. 13), is confirmed by the photograph dating
from 1904, which is actually more valuable than the
older conveyance as it also shows two wings
adjacent to the southern, extensive, two-storey
monastery (Fig. 6).
According to the recently published Encyc/opac-
(ńń q/z7zc Urc/nJecfMrc q/TYUrM-s* [in Belorussian] the
monastic complex (completely ruined during the
W W II) comprised two churches: a brick church,
the Holy Trinity church, erected in 1786-1789, and
a wooden one, the Annunciation church. This
information is somewhat controversial with the
data provided by Smoliński. The masonry church is
named by him as Spaska (Saviour's) and indicates
the year 1795 as the date of erection; the wooden
one was supposedly under the invocation of the
Virgin's Nativity and could be built, as he said, in
45
HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF THE OLELKOVICH DUKES IN SLUTSK.
THE INVENTORY MADE BY JÓZEF SMOLIŃSKI IN 1904
The Polish Academy of Sciences, Arts Institute
Library in Warsaw keeps in its book collection
a manuscript entitled Portrety ?' zohytkt Us7qźqf
O/e/kowtczdw w (Special Collection, rec. no.
621), which is the result of the inventory work
carried out by Józef Smoliński in 1904. The text is
illustrated by 14 photographs taken at that time by
the author in E. J. Rakova's atelier in Slutsk and 31
freehand drawings (including 10 in colour), ad-
ditionally freehand copies of 21 pages of a docu-
ment dating from 1587.
Ninety years later since its emergence, not only
that the work in point did not decrease in value but,
on the contrary, it has acquired a new quality. Two
successive World Wars, and perhaps even to a grea-
ter degree the years of Soviet regime, have cont-
ributed to a complete annihilation of the objects of
historic value, described by J. Smoliński. Accordin-
gly, the manuscript he has left behind is today one of
the few items of evidence for the former greatness of
the then splendid city of Slutsk, while the excellent
illustrative material that complements the text is
utterly priceless.
Józef Smoliński (1865-1927), a graduate from the
Warsaw School of Drawings headed by Wojciech
Gerson, was an accomplished painter, who also
went in for conservation work. His interests, howe-
ver, were not only limited to strictly artistic issues.
A lucky combination of his artistic talents with
interest in history made of him an utterly perfect
documentalist. The opinion I have expressed is both
a recognition of the fact that this text is still another
proof in support of the belief that the inventory of
objects of historic value is crucial and highly
needed, and my paying tribute to my predecessor in
this profession.
During my recent visit to Slutsk I had an oppor-
tunity to see with my own eyes that the historic
buildings have virtually completely disappeared and
how deeply the character of the city has changed on
the one hand, and with what solicitude and care is the
modest museum managed there. I must admit that
the accomplishments of its employees command
respect and has made me eager to made my specific
contribution to their endeavours. The best way
I could think of was to bring the inventory materials
collected by Józef Smolihski's to publication, as thus
a tiny fragment of the artistic heritage of Sluck could
be resuscitated, and the merits of man could be
recalled, owing to whose work and sensibility this
task is feasible today.
The subject of his inventory-maker's interest and
investigation was the Orthodox Holy Trinity mona-
stery in Slutsk. The appearance of the church,
known from the water-colour by Napoleon Orda
(Fig. 13), is confirmed by the photograph dating
from 1904, which is actually more valuable than the
older conveyance as it also shows two wings
adjacent to the southern, extensive, two-storey
monastery (Fig. 6).
According to the recently published Encyc/opac-
(ńń q/z7zc Urc/nJecfMrc q/TYUrM-s* [in Belorussian] the
monastic complex (completely ruined during the
W W II) comprised two churches: a brick church,
the Holy Trinity church, erected in 1786-1789, and
a wooden one, the Annunciation church. This
information is somewhat controversial with the
data provided by Smoliński. The masonry church is
named by him as Spaska (Saviour's) and indicates
the year 1795 as the date of erection; the wooden
one was supposedly under the invocation of the
Virgin's Nativity and could be built, as he said, in
45