Modus: Prace z historii sztuki (19.2019)

the Skalbmierz painting. The artist also adopted a similar procedurę to the death
scene of Ananias, adding to Merians composition a patch of land that “moved
the stage” away from the viewer. In addition, he supplemented the original compo-
sition with a part of the wali behind the back of the men standing at the top of the
stairs, including the abutment, the statues on the cornice, the upper part of the
columns, the roof over the balcony, and the sky. At the same time, the painter did
not transfer two scenes to the painting, namely the scenes that are taking place
in the background, on the right-hand side of the original, depicting a woman
approaching the group - most probably Safira - and the funeral of Ananias
shown in the distance. In the case of the third of the older paintings decorat-
ing the Skalbmierz panelling, the author decided to add fragments of stairs at
the top of which the scene is taking place, as well as the parts of the tholobate
and the dome of the building in front of which the men are standing, and the sky
covered with clouds.
Both the proportions of the building behind the group of men shown at
the top of the stairs in the scene of Ananiass death,and the building on the right
side of the scene of the baptism of Cornelius, have been significantly extended
and elongated, which is elear when comparing the size and the proportions
of window openings and matching them to the height of the human figures in
the drawings and in the paintings. This allowed the painter to fili the surface
of the canvas based on the transformations of the original compositions, to which
relatively few elements were added, constituting a continuation of sorts of the
original etchings’ composition.
X- X- X-
The Skalbmierz panelling consists of elements madę in two stages: in the seven-
teenth century, and after the fire that took place in 1907. In the case of the panelling
on the Southern side of the chancel, which was created after the fire in the early
twentieth century, the dating was confirmed when carrying out conservation
work.45 Analogous dating of panelling on the opposite side is prompted by a com-
parison of the current structure with the one visible in the photograph by Stefan
Zaborowski, and a description of the damage caused by the fire on the surface
of the Death of Ananias,46 which suggests that the fire destroyed or at least seri-
ously damaged the wooden structure and the paintings on the opposite side. The
current appearance of the panelling on the north side is the result of restoration
work carried out in 1949-1954, with the purpose of unifying various elements
of the churchs furniture so that they visually match the magnificent rood beam.47
Linking the three paintings created in the seventeenth century48 with illustrations
45 Documentation of monument conservation: Dokumentacja konserwatorska Drewniane boazerie
Z XVII w.
46 Ibidem.
47 Information on the recommendations for the renovation of elements furnishing the church
interior, and the assessment of the churchs condition after the completion of the works: adk,
ps 7/5, f. lr, 27r.
48 kzsp, p. 85; Skalbmierz, Kościół par., p. 1264; Documentation of monument conservation:
Drewniane boazerie z xvn w.

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ARTICLES

Katarzyna Chrzanowska