The art in Central Europe between Latin and Byzantine traditions

Анотація

The art in the countries of Central Europe, related to both the Latin and Byzantine traditions, belongs to a culturally diverse set, which is an interesting area of comparative research. In the 1960s, art historians sought new solutions to the study of European art. Changes in the borders of virtually all countries in the region caused great difficulties in the way of practising the humanities, including the history of art. Communist propaganda, censorship, and control of scientific life resulted in many scholars meeting the requirements of the authorities. At that time, the so-called nativeness was promoted and many art historians took up the inventory of monuments. The article presents profiles of art historians whose works are important for our considerations: Jan Białostocki, Layos Vayer, Răzvan Theodoreşcu, Janina Kłosińska. I mention important initiatives in the region, such as Niedzica Seminars, 1980-1991, organised by Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian art historians. But there was no presentation of the Eastern Christian monuments. Most art historians considered eastern Christian art in Central Europe to be provincial and classified it as ethnographic. Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Lithuanians did not have a chance to meet with the outside world. Dominated by centralised institutions in Moscow and Leningrad, they did not go beyond their own circle. However, they prepared the foundation for future research conducting inventory works and protecting monuments in museums. Vira Svientsitska, Pavel Zholtovsky, and Borys Voznitsky protected the monuments as much as they could save. After 1989 the countries of the former 'Eastern Bloc' regained their independence, and there was an era of free scientific research, without censorship and borders. The art of the Christian East has entered scholarly circulation, but still insufficiently. This article highlights some examples of this disparity.