Malowidła ścienne w kościele św. Sebastiana w Wieliczce – próba analizy dramaturgicznej

Abstract

THE WALL PAINTINGS AT SAINT SEBASTIAN’S CHURCH IN WIELICZKA – AN ATTEMPT AT A DRAMATIC ANALYSIS

The paper proposes a dramatic and relational analysis of Włodzimierz Tetmajer’s wall paintings at St Sebastian’s Church in Wieliczka, focusing not on the autonomous artistic values of individual painted representations but, rather, on finding the connections between them which determine the framework for action, where the polychrome is not regarded as decoration, but as theatrical scenery. In light of these principles, the author interprets Tetmajer’s work as a reference to the Romantic ideas connecting Christian theology and the ethics of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice with the historiosophical reflection on the resurrection, i.e. liberation of Poland. This reference is regarded by the author as polemical with the simplified version of Polish Romantic messianism, falsely accredited to Adam Mickiewicz, yet fully in line with the latter’s idea of complete transformation. Tetmajer’s wall paintings constitute the theatrical scenery for precisely that kind of transformation whose ritual model is the  iturgy. Therefore, the fact that a work of art of such subtle, yet expressive transformational dramaturgy is located specifically in a church environment should be regarded as a testimony to Włodzimierz Tetmajer’s outstanding artistic awareness as an artist who remains in a close relationship with the original traditions of Polish culture.