Profesorius Janas Rutkowskis: tarp ars ir sacrum

LTStraipsnyje pristatomos prof. Jano Rutkowskio konservuotos meno vertybės Vilniaus vaivadijoje XX a. pirmoje pusėje. Pateikiami duomenys apie atliktus to meto mokslinius tyrimus, publikuotuose ir rašytiniuose šaltiniuose bei mokslinėje literatūroje rasta informacija apie paveikslų konservavimo priežastis ir atliktų darbų rezultatus. Aptariama anuometinė meno kūrinio ir jo priežiūros (konservavimo) samprata nagrinėjant prof. Rutkowskio straipsnį apie bendrus tapybos konservavimo principus. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Tapybos konservavimo istorija; Janas Rutkowskis; Čenstakavos Dievo Motina; Aušros Vartų koplyčios Dievo Motina; Sapiegų Dievo Motina; History of painting conservation; Jan Rutkowski; Our Lady of Chęstochowa; Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn; Our Lady of the Sapiehas.

ENAs a result of the intense activity of public organisations for the preservation of cultural monuments in the early 20th century, quite many works of art survived in the Vilnius region. Thanks to the collaboration between the high clergy of the Catholic Church and secular scientists, conservation of sacral easel paintings based on the methods of scientific research was carried out for the first time in the Vilnius region by professor Jan Rutkowski (1881–1940) who arrived from Warsaw specially for this purpose. Professor Rutkowski worked as the chief painting conservator of the Warsaw Royal Castle from 1922. His duties included the supervision of important artworks in various regions of Poland and conservation of artworks under the Law on the Protection of Valuable Objects of Culture and Art adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland on 8 November 1918. The first work of sacral painting famous for its miracles conserved with public funds was Our Lady of Chęstochowa, on which Rutkowski worked from November 1925 to March 1926. According to the professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Wojciech Kurpik, “it was the first time in Poland when science and faith met at a work of art, and it was then that ‘ars’ and ‘sacrum’ merged into a whole”. One of the most impressive and outstanding works conserved by prof. Rutkowski in the Vilnius Voivodeship in 1927 was the painting of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn. It was the first conservation work of this nature and scientific importance in Vilnius, which was widely covered in the press of that time, and the comprehensive research conducted in relation with this work still remains urgent.Later, in 1927–1929, prof. Rutkowski conserved the painting of The Blessed Virgin Mary or so-called Our Lady of the Poet Adam Mickiewicz in the Dūkštai Piarist church. At the end of June – beginning of July 1935, prof. Rutkowski began the conservation of the painting of Our Lady of the Sapiehas. The conservation works lasted approximately three months. The conservation of this painting and the results of scientific research were unexpected both to professor Rutkowski himself and art historians, as only a small fragment of the original 16th century tempera painting was found. Professor Rutkowski’s article titled “Basic Notes on Paint ing Conservation” was published in The Magazine for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage in 1930/1931. Although the text is of great interest from the viewpoint of applying the conservation theory on concrete works, due to its length only some more significant excerpts are analysed in this article. It was the use of the method of conservation rather than restoration on the artworks that were considered miraculous in the first half of the 20th century that prevented the conservators from transgressing the boundaries of sacrality and did not destroy what many years later can still be considered an object of research. [From the publication]