Ratusz głównego miasta w Gdańsku : konserwacja, rola współczesnej plastyki w zabytkowym wnętrzu

The author makes an attempt to consider analytically the problem of fittings of the Town Hall of the Main City of Gdańsk and at the same time the co -ex istence between monuments and the modern art features o f some rooms of the same building. He expresses an opinion that there is much too little publications dealing with the problem of co-existence between the modern and ancient art in historical interiors although a considerable number of examples in this respect could be found in Poland. Thus, the author puts forward a proposal to exchange the views on the subject. The Town Hall of the Main City of Gdańsk has been built in a few phases during the periods 1379 — 82 and 1486 — 92. The historical changes have, in principle, terminated with the erection of the tower’s spire in 1559 — 60 and on completion of stoneworks in 1562, and of repair at the end of the 16th century. Seriously damaged in 1945 the Town Hall was rebuilt in 1950 but the finishing works and the conservation of its fittings were completed as late as in 1970. The most interesting works forming the subject of the author’s publication were carried out on the se cond, representative floor. The fittings and furniture of the Council’s Great Hall that has been moved from Gdańsk prior to 1945 was preserved almost in its whole. In 1593 Willem van der Meer from Ghent has built a huge fireplace of stone thus starting the modern fitting of that room. It is alleged that the interior itse lf was designed by Hans Vredeman de Vries then employed in Gdańsk as a town architect. It was namely he who has painted 7 allegorical compositions on the walls and working together with his son Paul was the author of the ceiling paintings which were removed in 1608. In the years 1594 — 96 the Gdańsk-born joiner Simon Herle has built the stalls richly adorned with intarsia and the cornices above them. As the ceiling paintings have not pleased the Council, in 1608 — 09 Herle built a new ceiling w h ile the artist Isaak van den Blocke has painted 25 panels for the said ceiling. The central part of this composition is the „Apotheosis of the Union between Gdańsk and Poland”. Apart from minor losses all these works have been preserved. In 1764, in the course of the Hall’s restoration the lo wer portion of walls has been covered with the red patterned damask whereas in the upper portions of w a lls between the pictures by Vredeman de Vries the new pictures were placed totally covering the wall surfaces. These 16th-century elements of the Hall’s fitting were partly preserved up to our times. In the course of conservation the overpaintings have been removed from cornices and ceiling portions, and at the same time necessary reconstructions of the joinery work were carried out. New fabric — the red damask, has also been made by then to cover the whole wall including the backgrounds of Vredeman de Vries’s paintings which previously were free of coverage. During the course of actual conservations it has been found not recommendable to reconstruct the paintings dating from 1764. Rejected also was the idea to leave the upper wall portions plastered in natural colour. With the reconstruction limited to the narrowest possible extent the Council’s Great Hall exhibits the authentic objects, and, though some of detailed design solutions are disputable, the whole may be considered as the positive example. Entirely different problems had to be solved in the entrance-hall where the rich fitting consisting of the spiral timber stairs, gallery and a painted ceiling was totally burnt down. A set of preserved fragments and the photographs of high documentary value supplied the basis for reconstruction. It seems that the conservators from Gdańsk have taken fully right point of view in their idea of the interior’s reconstruction putting the stress on the entrance. New stairs and the balcony balustrade have been rebuilt with some small carved details built-in. The ceilings were covered with paintings newly composed by Professor Josephine Wnuk in their forms resampling those original. The author assesses the design of the entrance-hall interior as the most appropriate in artistical respect. Original relics (the stone and timber doorway), these reconstructed (the stairs and balcony) and those entirely new (the ceiling paintings) form a harmonious composition with its authentic elements playing an essential role owing to a suitable differentiation of colouring. Quite disputable as to their character seem some attempts to introduce the modern art to interiors. It was the conservator’s intention to convey, although in modern forms, the splendour of the ancient in te riors in the representative part of the Town Hall. By no means less important aim consisted in producing a harmonius composition combining the fragments of original fitting with the modern art, securing however, the main or at least an equal chance for the ancient art. Its realization has led to the different final results. As the most interesting modern hallmark may be considered the paintings by Professor Jacek Żuławski in the vestibule to the Corporation’s Lesser Hall, interesting in their artistic expression and in the right way accentuating the original vaults and corbels. However, a somewhat objectionable seems the general artistic design of the Corporation’s Lesser Hall where the strong accents brought by the new fabric (designed by Professor Josephine Wnuk) are to a great extent weakening the expression of authentic e le ments, i.e. of vault and the stone corbels dating back to the 16th century. It w ill by far be not too easy task to find a set of furniture and pictures rightly fitting to this interior. Similar objections arise when one views the Council’s Winter Hall where the main hallmark consists in the new fabric covering the walls. Under no condition might be considered as helpful for the exhibition of the 16th-century cornices the strong accents appearing in the flooring fla g -sto - nes. In both these interiors the interesting and v a lu a ble works of modern art have proved to be too strong accents prevailing over the monuments of the past. In turn, the paintings in the Council’s Great Hall being entirely deprived of ancient accents are not in teresting enough and do not produce sufficiently strong artistic accent within this spacious interior. Making an assessment on the whole of works carried out in interiors the author has emphasized the fo llo wing features: (1) a decided requirement of the most careful conservation of all monuments even at the cost of considerable extension of the period of preservating operations, (2) a careful attitude toward authentic relics expressed also in the confined reconstructions, (3) an open attitude toward the modern decorative art, (4) broadly discussed conservation programme and the analysis of the progress of works in a wide circle of experts representing distinct fields and milieux. The author considers the Gdańsk r ea lization as right in principle apart from an objectionable manner of introducing some modern hallmarks. His opinion represents an important statement in discussion on the conservation of ancient art and its relationship to that modern.