Agnieszka Patała

The book presents the history of establishment and transformations
of cultural heritage in the Milicz commune, narrowed here in particular to secular and sacral architectural monuments as well as sculptures and paintings, following the chronological approach from prehistory until the 20th century. The starting point includes on one hand the preserved objects, while on the other the issues connected with spatial development and confession transformations which took place within these areas. The purpose of the present publication is to systematize current state of knowledge in the field, from time to time complementing it with new, however not revolutionary, findings, observations and remarks.
The area of today’s Milicz commune quickly formed part of the zone of interest and field penetration of researchers of the past. Their curiosity was fueled by the information on new discoveries, dating back in particular to the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and early middle Ages, recorded already in the 18th century. Archeological studies conducted uninterruptedly until current times resulted in a lot of information concerning the development of these areas in prehistory. Basing on them it is possible to conclude that from the earliest times, specific “border” character constituted one of the most important differentiating features of our commune. Dense and stable settlement had emerged here relatively late, i.e. from the 2nd half of the third Bronze Age period, but it was less vulnerable to regression affecting neighboring areas that followed. This resistance to abrupt changes together with traditions which, once shaped, lasted for a long time, would be characteristic for a lot of phenomena connected with the formation of cultural heritage within the areas of the Milicz commune observed over the centuries.
Specific and characteristic landscape elements of the discussed area are constituted by early medieval gords situated along the Barycz River. At least some of them can be linked with settlement centers of lower-level territorial communities, forming the seats of local commanders. The network of these objects was taken over and developed by the Piast State and in this new structure, central position was occupied by the castellan’s gord in Milicz. The complex forming around the Milicz gord, which with the course of time included also a market settlement on the opposite side of the river, became the subject of interest not only for archeologists, but also historians, trying to solve the riddle of chronology and topography of objects presented in the documents. One controversy refers to the moment of establishment, the founder and shape of the only still partially preserved medieval brick and mortar object in the commune, i.e. the castle constructed to the West from the later town.
The building erected most probably at the turn of the 13th and 14th century in place of the defensive facility, first heaped up and surrounded by moat, constitutes one of the most precious monuments in the area, representing subsequent architectural phases, starting from a comfortable and modern, at those times, bishop’s or ducal palace, through defensive stronghold of Oleśnica dukes, the seat of estate rulers transformed in the Baroque era into a castle until its transformation for manufacturing purposes and receiving in the early 19th century neo-Gothic layout matching the mystery requirements of the English-style park surrounding it. Its significance for the history of architecture extended far beyond the borders of the region.
In turn, architectural shape of the castle in Sułów remains a mystery for us and we can reconstruct its history exclusively basing on historical sources. It was most probably erected ca. 14th century and it constituted the arena of very turbulent history of Sułów and its surroundings, for a few times becoming robber knights’ nest and the events accompanying its siege in 1488 resounded in the entire Silesia region.
These two castles, together with the parish church in Milicz in its small part limited to the presbytery, constitute the only known medieval and renaissance brick and mortar objects in the entire commune. The remaining churches, knights’ seats and in particular residential buildings of the inhabitants of the countryside were erected from non-persistent materials. Most probably at the end of the 16th century, Otto von Dohna himself erected his manor following frame construction scheme. He was the owner of the Sułów weichbild, elevated in 1654 to the rank of Lower Estate Country. Only the division of Milicz Estate Country into four independent territories had a stimulating effect on the rulers on newly separated territories, remaining in need of new “capital” seats. The first of them was established in 1637, formed by the palace in Nowe Grodzisko surrounded by moat, which was then subject to numerous reconstructions, at some moment being extended with a second object, which resulted in an interesting establishment including so called old and new palace. This object, picturesquely located by the Barycz River, was not a lucky one; being situated at the pick of the territory, it was subject to destructive raids and finally left abandoned. It is thus the only seat of estate rulers in our commune, which disappeared from the face of the earth, and its location can be determined only thanks to the still preserved, but dry, molds.
Non-persistent construction material, in particular timber and clay, were until the 19th century used exclusively for the construction of sacral buildings within the Milicz commune...

The book focuses on preserved material heritage of the Żukowice commune, in particular the representative secular buildings (mostly manors and palaces) as well as  examples of sacral architecture and furnishings. Monuments distinguished by their artistic value were se-lected, being the witnesses of the history of the area and the changes happening there together with historical processes and natural disas-ters. Their permanent presence in the local landscape and the fact of accompanying the inhabitants for dozens of years result in the fact that they are on a daily basis treated in a unique way, while the intentions and ambitions of their founders, representing different religious beliefs, origins and family roots have become blurred. Temporal framework of the paper includes the period from the 13th century, when brick and mortar foundations of the oldest church in Brzeg Głogowski were supposedly laid, until the 20th century, when the damage of mate-rial heritage of this area increased significantly. Territorial reach of the paper is generally limited to the villages which currently, within modern administrative borders, are included within the Żukowice commune. However, the necessity to present analogies mark the context of some broader phenomena or finally refer to examples, forces frequent travels through the entire Silesia region, or even Central Europe.
Material cultural heritage of the Żukowice commune constitutes a very heterogeneous collection of architecture, sculpture and paintings, formed within the period of seven centuries and representing many different phenomena important for Silesia and the entire Central Europe. Such universal factors as political circumstances, religious transformations, ambitions as well as financial resources of the founders or the efforts (or their lack) of the then owners turned out to be decisive for its character. Other crucial determiners consisted in the network of family contacts promoting the migration of artists (in particular the authors of stuccos or sculptors) between the locations which from the purely geographical point of view were totally unconnected with each other. Th significance for shaping the image of cultural heritage of the commune consisted in its location in the immediate vicinity of the town of Głogów, for centuries forming the orbit and the source of influence for villages within the commune. The second important centre providing examples, inspirations and artists for the area of the Głogów duchy was the city of Wrocław – the most important centre of handicraft in the region. Nevertheless, the solutions applied in neighbouring lands, in particular in Łużyce or more broadly understood Saxony, were also noticeable. The remains of the medieval era, during which the general parish network of the commune was shaped, may be found in the majority of examples of brick and mortar sacral architecture, and for sure the most precious and valuable buildings, including the church in Brzeg Głogowski of partially 13th-century origin, as well as the churches in Kłoda, Kromolin, Nielubia and Żukowice. The following centuries brought their singular contributions, when in the early 18th century the only baroque church in the commune was founded on Saint Ann’s Mountain and in the next century – two neo-style buildings in Nielubia and Szczepów, deprived of their historical furnishings. However, contrary to architectural works of art, no other example of medieval artistic creation was preserved in the commune – their existence is known exclusively from the sources. Modern times are represented by  secular (knights’) buildings, with their greatest example in the form of an imposing manor in Czerna, unrivalled in the entire region. The majority of renaissance manors, rebuilt in the following years, are unfortunately to be reconstructed basing on preserved relics and past studies. The period of reformation connected with important religious transformations in the area brought two great examples of the oldest interior equipment elements in the form of a baptismal font and pulpit from the church in Kromolin, to-gether with the flourishing of funerary art expressed by the emergence of an extensive collection of stone monuments commemorating the representatives of the most important local family, still preserved in the churches in Żukowice, Brzeg Głogowski and Kromolin. Tomb-stones and epitaphs of noblemen from the Berge, Czedlitz and Zedlitz families deserve particular attention. Thirty Years’ War took its extremely destructive toll also on the Żukowice commune. The period directly after the year 1648, marked with the restoration of Catholic faith, resulted also in the devasta-tion and destruction of many churches. Their renovation resulted in new vaults as well as equipment and decorative elements. In Baroque times, the church on Saint Ann’s Mountain was erected together with the manor in Szczepów, while many different palaces and manors were reconstructed. Some church furnishings dating back to that pe-riod could be found here later, initially unconnected with this place. In the 19th century, some palaces were renovated in a new style, the best example of which is the building in Szczepów. It was also in this village, the work which at first glance seems quite modest, but which later distinguished itself on a regional scale with its architectural form, was constructed. What is meant here is the von Schlabrendorf family mausoleum, erected basing on the plan of a circle and visibly con-nected with its prototype, even if strongly filtered by the achievements of French and Potsdam architecture, i.e. Roman Pantheon. Sacral ar-chitecture of this century is represented by an isolated building – the Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Nielubia. In the first half of the 20th century, the trend was to  introduce small modifications to buildings  and to exchange their furnishings, but these activities did not leave any important imprint on the cultural landscape of our region. Sudden and in the overwhelming majority negative processes influencing the condition of monuments preserved in the Żukowice area, resulting from the Second World War and its outcomes, should become the subject of separate interdisciplinary studies.

This publication isintended to describe the panorama of the most important phenomena, events and works that make up the present shape of the cultural heritage of the Lubawka commune, taking into account the most important local and regional contexts, and the neighbouring lands. The term “cultural heritage” has been narrowed down to material heritage, which primarily consists of architecture, sculptures, paintings and cities as dynamically changing organisms, in which the present shape was influenced by many factors. Particular attention has been paid to two circumstances, which characterise the presented image of the legacy ofpast centuries inLubawka: ahistorical border character of the commune and its centuries-old dependence on the Cistercian abbey in Krzeszów. Inorder toorganise the discussed historical material and to indicate its most valuable elements, the essay part is accompanied by a list of the most important objects and works in the commune.Based on the analysis of the spatial layout of both historical urban centres of the commune, i.e. Chełmsk Śląski and Lubawka, where only Lubawka maintained this status, we can note the lack of elements typical for Silesian urban centres, i.e.: city walls, regular building blocks, regular street grid, mid-marketplace block. For this reason, these cities are more like private centres, border territory with – despite the medieval metrics – modern spatial location. In turn, houses built on territory of the Lubawka commune until the end of the modern period do not differ from those commonly occurring in Silesia, especially in the small towns of the region – built on a narrow lot with a narrow building and arcades. And those arcades determine the extremely high value of Lubawka and Chełmsk Śląski. This is because they belong to very rare relics characteristic to the tradition of the region, disappearing in other parts of Silesia, especially in the north. Moreover, an important element of the panorama of both cities is several representative houses distinctive from other development. They are special in the commune for their superior size and ornamentation, probably built for rich merchants, forming the city elite. We should also stress the material and structural diversity of hundreds of houses built here over the years and a wealth of architectural baroque details still present on many facades. This may be influenced by two factors: renovations of houses located near the market square were less thorough than in other urban centres, and Lubawka was home for many masonry and construction masters. It is possible, however, that the existing houses are based on older foundations. Following the history of the formation of the cultural heritage of the commune, it should be emphasised that there are no works dating back before the middle of the 16th century that could be undoubtedly connected with these areas. In turn, the lack of preserved Gothic architectural monuments, despite the mentions of their existence, may be aconsequence ofusing non-durable building materials and construction projects undertaken on a large scale in the modern period. The period of consolidation of reformation in Silesia, which ended with the end of the Thirty Years War, in times of rule of abbot Rosa, was more fruitful with construction and artistic projects, confirmed by sources and preserved monuments. The most important witnesses of that time include the protestant Church of Saint Matthew in Stara Białka, which preserved its character and funders’ memorabilia thanks to the independence from the abbey in Krzeszów. Undoubtedly, the reign of Bernhard Rosa and the next three abbots of Krzeszów is  a golden period in the history of art of Lubawka commune. It is a time when most of the still existing temples and their equipment originated, along with sculptures scattered across the villages in the commune. This was certainly influenced by economic recovery following the end of the Thirty Years War, combined with the ambitions of abbot Rosa, who used architectural and artistic works as tools to support Counter-Reformation and the development of a new, mystic, mass devotion. Promoting new formulas of selected cults, as in the case ofthe Fourteen Holy Helpers, and creation of pilgrimage centre in Lubawka, additionally stimulated artistic production. Dependence on Krzeszów abbey meant that older, outdated or poorer artistic furnishings (such as altars, paintings, sculptures) were moved to patron churches. In a result, we can observe and interesting phenomenon in the Lubawka commune: churches are furnished with elements that are older than the buildings themselves. Combined with works from the 19h and the 20th century, they make the impression of great diversity, but sometimes cause inconsistence in the interiors. Works of art preserved here are more sophisticated than typical Silesian baroque works, and their formal and stylish layer highlight the most important European trends of that era. Liquidation of the Krzeszów abbey in 1810, saturation of sacral and urban space of the commune with new buildings and their equipment, as well as the economic stagnation in the mid-nineteenth century, meant that only few works were created at that time. From the second half of the said century, we can observe that local cities expand their area, e.g. with multi-family residential buildings, numerous industrial plants, and – as the abbey’s authority was gone – protestant building complexes. It is also an important period in the formation of the rural development in the commune, and houses built at that time rather reflected the nature of rural Sudeten architecture.The destruction of the Second World War did not reach the commune, but subsequent difficulties in maintaining buildings in good condition led to numerous construction disasters and demolitions, especially in case of wooden buildings. Additionally, the lack of organised supervision over the newly built multi-family buildings adversely affected the historic values of the commune. It should be noted that the area is worth some special attention of the inhabitants, conservation authorities and researchers, as its historic tissue treasures a lot of priceless information onthe fate oflocal community and on important historic events seen from the perspective of Silesia and this part of Europe.

This article deals with modern illustrations accompanying medieval text, with special attention to one publication - the modern edition of Middle Dutch "Elckerlijc" and the woodcuts made by Stefan Mrożewski. The article introduces the circumstances in which the book was published and in which the Polish artist prepared his prints. The main analysis discusses the choices made by Mrożewski and the many different ways in which he refers to the historic past in his work. In order to show a broader framework of the subject, the article also briefly sketches the Polish literary reception of the medieval morality play.

Full version: https://ikonotheka.pl/resources/html/articlesList?issueId=14755

The volume is principally concerned with medieval art, and the various phenomena of medievalism observed after 1945 in Central Europe. The authors emphasise the problems of creative adaptations, programmatic redefinitions, nationalist appropriation and ideological re-evaluations. The issue also presents an analysis of arcaded architecture based on diverse research methods, a study of Michel Sittow's paintings and a study on the transformation of the interiors of reconstructed and re-gothicized churches in Poland. The whole is complemented by articles on modern sacred architecture and American contemporary art.

All texts available here: https://quart.uni.wroc.pl/pl-57/

The art of the broadly understood Middle Ages seems to be marked by aversion to empty spots, spatial gaps, and incompleteness. Such an attitude is common to all epochs of old art, however, the all-pervasive fear of emptiness is considered to be one of the important impulses affecting artists and commissioners especially in the Middle Ages, in their efforts to i.a. tightly fill manuscript cards with painted illuminations or temple walls with monumental paintings and a wealth of sculptural decorations. Meanwhile, it is impossible to ignore and marginalize the presence of empty spaces, gaps and more or less intentional omissions in the visual sphere of medieval Europe and blame only the inattentive or less talented artists, or the destructive effect of the passing of time for their occurrence. Empty spaces, regardless of whether they were intentional or not, can speak very loudly, can give new meanings and senses or change the existing ones, can constitute a new form of not necessarily physical presence or a source of concrete information, and finally can talk about various, not only physical, gaps and deficiencies.

Submitted papers, being theoretical deliberations, outlining wider phenomena or being case studies, may, yet not necessarily, discuss the following topics:
• Empty spaces, gaps and omissions in the physical, compositional, iconographic, ideological and content layers of works and spaces as their integral part and/or the effect of intentional actions, manipulation, erasure of memory, and the result of pure chance,
• the phenomenon of the disappearance of awareness, and memory of the incompleteness of works and space,
• absence, nothingness, non-representation as immanent features of the visual culture of specific areas, times, given artistic environments,
• gaps, omissions, and processes of erasing memory in research on medieval art and present in its collecting and exhibiting, as well as in source accounts from the period and in later historical and artistic literature.