DOI article:
Adamski, Jakub: An allusion to a cathedral in a rural foundation: on the iconography of the architecture of the sixteenth-century parish church in Brochów
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51757#0011
AN ALLUSION TO A CATHEDRAL IN A RURAL FOUNDATION?...
9
WHAT IS ICONOGRAPHY OF ARCHITECTURE?
To begin with, it is necessary to recollect the essence of the research in the field of the iconography of
medieval architecture, as well as its historiographic roots. The early decades of the 19th century witnessed
the first phase of scholarly interest with the pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Gothic architecture in France,
England and Germany, the leaders in the field; there, the goal was to identify, describe and catalogue
their rich and varied architectural heritage of the Middle Ages. By the inter-war period, the international
community of specialists on medieval architecture had been expressing their satisfaction on the having
closed this first, “elementary” stage of research. However, the accompanying feeling was that of a deep
disappointment with the purely factual nature of these investigations, with the research area restricted to
formal and constructional issues, and with the dogmatic quality of the archaeological approach.13
The breakthrough came in the 1940s and 1950s, when developments in the research on iconography
in pictorial arts resulted in the publication of pioneering studies, in which also architecture began to be
perceived as a pictorial, or rather, communicative art. This new direction was laid out chiefly by four
scholars: Richard Krautheimer (1897-1994), Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968), Hans Sedlmayr (1896-1984)
and Günter Bandmann (1917-1975), who suggestively demonstrated that in medieval edifices, ideological
programmed are encoded in a complex system of architectural forms, interpreted by scholars on the level
of the analyses of the type and ground plan of the given structure, its style, the repertoire of motifs and
decorations. So far, the best critical discussion of the principles and methodology of their pioneering
studies - ones that had so clearly departed from the archaeological direction in the development of the
history of architecture - has been presented by Paul Crossley.14 Crossley convincingly delineated two
fundamental research approaches evident among these authors, whom Crossley described as “iconologists”
and “monographers” of medieval architecture. The one which did not withstand the test of time, that is the
later detailed verifications, was the “iconological” approach,15 originating from the conceptions presented
by Max Dvorak in his famous book Kunstgeschichte als Geistesgeschichte.16 It consisted in researching
architecture as the expressions of the “spirit of the era” in its indissoluble connection with other areas of
human thought and creativity, especially philosophy, theology, poetry or music. The iconologists, that is,
Erwin Panofsky, Hans Sedlmayr and Otto von Simson,17 viewed a work of architecture from a distance,
as if from a bird’s eye view, looking for its immanent roots in the history of ideas and pointing to its
parallelism with respect to other areas of culture.18
The “iconographers” of architecture, in contrast to its “iconologists”, focused on the analysis of concrete
structures in the light of their historical and functional conditions.19 The pioneer of this research current
was Richard Krautheimer, whose famous 1942 essay, in which he defined the purposes, and presented
model iconographic analyses of medieval buildings, became a reference point to later generations of
medievalists.20 Günter Bandmann’s habilitation thesis, written in 1951,21 played an equally important role
13 For the best discussion of this research current available in Polish literature, see T. Rodzińska-Chorąży, Zespoły rezydencjo-
nalne i kościoły centralne na ziemiach polskich do połowy XII wieku, Cracow 2009, pp. 244—250 [with numerous references to further
literature],
14 P. Crossley, In Search of an Iconography of Medieval Architecture, [in:] Symbolae Historiae Artium. Studia z historii sztuki
Lechowi Kalinowskiemu dedykowane, ed. J. Gadomski et al., Warsaw 1986, pp. 55-65; idem, Medieval Architecture and Meaning: The
Limits of Iconography, “The Burlington Magazine”, 130, 1988, pp. 116-121.
15 See J. Jarzewicz, O dwóch niewielkich książkach i jednej wielkiej teorii, “Artium Quaestiones”, 13, 2002, pp. 359-371.
16 See M. Dvorak, Kunstgeschichte als Geistesgeschichte. Studien zur abendländischen Kunstentwicklung, Munich 1924; L. Kali-
nowski, Max Dvorak i jego metoda badań nad sztuką (w stulecie urodzin), Warsaw 1974.
17 See esp. E. Panofsky, Architektura gotycka i scholastyka, [in:] idem, Studia z historii sztuki, wybrał, opracował i opatrzył
posłowiem J. Białostocki, Warsaw 1971, pp. 33-65 (in English: Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, “Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism”, 11, 1952, pp. 80-81); idem, Suger, opat Saint-Denis, [in:] ibidem, pp. 66-94 (in English: Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church
of St.-Denis and its Art Treasures', various editions); H. Sedlmayr, Die Entstehung der Kathedrale, Zürich 1950; O. von Simpson,
Katedra gotycka. Jej narodziny i znaczenie, fransi. A. Palińska, Warsaw 1989 (in English: The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic
Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order, various editions).
18 See Crossley, In Search..., pp. 58-62; idem, Medieval Architecture..., pp. 118-121; Rodzińska-Chorąży, op. cit.,
pp. 251-255.
19 Crossley, In Search..., pp. 56, 62-64; Rodzińska-Chorąży, op. cit., pp. 253-254.
20 R. Krautheimer, Introduction to an “Iconography of Medieval Architecture’’, “Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Insti-
tutes”, 5, 1942, pp. 1-33.
21 G. Bandmann, Mittelalterliche Architektur als Bedeutungsträger, Berlin 1951.
9
WHAT IS ICONOGRAPHY OF ARCHITECTURE?
To begin with, it is necessary to recollect the essence of the research in the field of the iconography of
medieval architecture, as well as its historiographic roots. The early decades of the 19th century witnessed
the first phase of scholarly interest with the pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Gothic architecture in France,
England and Germany, the leaders in the field; there, the goal was to identify, describe and catalogue
their rich and varied architectural heritage of the Middle Ages. By the inter-war period, the international
community of specialists on medieval architecture had been expressing their satisfaction on the having
closed this first, “elementary” stage of research. However, the accompanying feeling was that of a deep
disappointment with the purely factual nature of these investigations, with the research area restricted to
formal and constructional issues, and with the dogmatic quality of the archaeological approach.13
The breakthrough came in the 1940s and 1950s, when developments in the research on iconography
in pictorial arts resulted in the publication of pioneering studies, in which also architecture began to be
perceived as a pictorial, or rather, communicative art. This new direction was laid out chiefly by four
scholars: Richard Krautheimer (1897-1994), Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968), Hans Sedlmayr (1896-1984)
and Günter Bandmann (1917-1975), who suggestively demonstrated that in medieval edifices, ideological
programmed are encoded in a complex system of architectural forms, interpreted by scholars on the level
of the analyses of the type and ground plan of the given structure, its style, the repertoire of motifs and
decorations. So far, the best critical discussion of the principles and methodology of their pioneering
studies - ones that had so clearly departed from the archaeological direction in the development of the
history of architecture - has been presented by Paul Crossley.14 Crossley convincingly delineated two
fundamental research approaches evident among these authors, whom Crossley described as “iconologists”
and “monographers” of medieval architecture. The one which did not withstand the test of time, that is the
later detailed verifications, was the “iconological” approach,15 originating from the conceptions presented
by Max Dvorak in his famous book Kunstgeschichte als Geistesgeschichte.16 It consisted in researching
architecture as the expressions of the “spirit of the era” in its indissoluble connection with other areas of
human thought and creativity, especially philosophy, theology, poetry or music. The iconologists, that is,
Erwin Panofsky, Hans Sedlmayr and Otto von Simson,17 viewed a work of architecture from a distance,
as if from a bird’s eye view, looking for its immanent roots in the history of ideas and pointing to its
parallelism with respect to other areas of culture.18
The “iconographers” of architecture, in contrast to its “iconologists”, focused on the analysis of concrete
structures in the light of their historical and functional conditions.19 The pioneer of this research current
was Richard Krautheimer, whose famous 1942 essay, in which he defined the purposes, and presented
model iconographic analyses of medieval buildings, became a reference point to later generations of
medievalists.20 Günter Bandmann’s habilitation thesis, written in 1951,21 played an equally important role
13 For the best discussion of this research current available in Polish literature, see T. Rodzińska-Chorąży, Zespoły rezydencjo-
nalne i kościoły centralne na ziemiach polskich do połowy XII wieku, Cracow 2009, pp. 244—250 [with numerous references to further
literature],
14 P. Crossley, In Search of an Iconography of Medieval Architecture, [in:] Symbolae Historiae Artium. Studia z historii sztuki
Lechowi Kalinowskiemu dedykowane, ed. J. Gadomski et al., Warsaw 1986, pp. 55-65; idem, Medieval Architecture and Meaning: The
Limits of Iconography, “The Burlington Magazine”, 130, 1988, pp. 116-121.
15 See J. Jarzewicz, O dwóch niewielkich książkach i jednej wielkiej teorii, “Artium Quaestiones”, 13, 2002, pp. 359-371.
16 See M. Dvorak, Kunstgeschichte als Geistesgeschichte. Studien zur abendländischen Kunstentwicklung, Munich 1924; L. Kali-
nowski, Max Dvorak i jego metoda badań nad sztuką (w stulecie urodzin), Warsaw 1974.
17 See esp. E. Panofsky, Architektura gotycka i scholastyka, [in:] idem, Studia z historii sztuki, wybrał, opracował i opatrzył
posłowiem J. Białostocki, Warsaw 1971, pp. 33-65 (in English: Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, “Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism”, 11, 1952, pp. 80-81); idem, Suger, opat Saint-Denis, [in:] ibidem, pp. 66-94 (in English: Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church
of St.-Denis and its Art Treasures', various editions); H. Sedlmayr, Die Entstehung der Kathedrale, Zürich 1950; O. von Simpson,
Katedra gotycka. Jej narodziny i znaczenie, fransi. A. Palińska, Warsaw 1989 (in English: The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic
Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order, various editions).
18 See Crossley, In Search..., pp. 58-62; idem, Medieval Architecture..., pp. 118-121; Rodzińska-Chorąży, op. cit.,
pp. 251-255.
19 Crossley, In Search..., pp. 56, 62-64; Rodzińska-Chorąży, op. cit., pp. 253-254.
20 R. Krautheimer, Introduction to an “Iconography of Medieval Architecture’’, “Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Insti-
tutes”, 5, 1942, pp. 1-33.
21 G. Bandmann, Mittelalterliche Architektur als Bedeutungsträger, Berlin 1951.