The Lublin Sejm of 1569 in the visions of artists of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries: historical and iconographic analysis

To the 450th anniversary of the Union of Lublin

Abstract

Abstract. The objectives of this research are as follows: analysis of authentic visual sources which could reflect the events of the Sejm of Lublin of 1569; determining what historical moments of the mentioned event were interpreted in works of art of 19 – first half of 20 century; analysis of compositions of works of art in order to research the challenges of that time and how the visual images of the Union of Lublin responded to such challenges. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, consistency and impartiality, as well as determined by an interdisciplinary approach. The main methods used were as follows: retrospective, comparative, iconographic, etc. The scientific novelty lies in raising an issue of the need to research visual representations of the events of the Sejm of Lublin of 1569 by artists of 19 – first half of 20 century, both for their probable correspondence to the historical realities of 16 century, authenticity of the representation of historical figures according to existing iconographic sources, determining the nature of the prepared works and their possible use in the process of forming national consciousness,construction of historical memory during 19–20 centuries. The conclusions of the research are as follows: 1) the only source of that time that schematically depicts the Sejm session of 16 century is an engraving by an unknown artist called the “Crown Sejm of the times of Sigismund II Augustus” from J.Herburt’s book “Statuta i przywileie koronne” (1570); 2) this engraving cannot be unambiguously recognized as a direct depiction of the Sejm of Lublin of 1569; 3) the most known artistic visualizations of the events and figures of the aforementioned Sejm are M.Bacciarelli’s painting “Unification of Poland with Lithuania at the Sejm of Lublin” (LʼUnion de la Lithuanie à la Pologne par Sigismond Auguste; Unia Lubelska) (1785–1786), the work by J.Matejko “Union of Lublin” (Unia Lubelska) (1869) and the canvas created by members of St. Luke Society (Unia Lubelska) (1939); 4) the most comprehensive historical and ideological program and iconographic development is represented the work of J.Matejko thanks to which it obtained the greatest historical propaganda significance; 5) successful compositional finds of the artists experienced further interpretations in the works of the successors, which contributed to the formation of recognizability of the plots and their lodging in the memory of the generations of Poles; 6) all aforementioned works of art in combination with material monuments dedicated to the Union of Lublin (obelisk of the Union of Lublin in Lublin dated 1826, the mound of the Union of Lublin in Lviv dated 1876) fulfilled their function of forming national consciousness and constructing a memory of the most important events of Polish history; 7) the approaches used by the artists, sculptors and architects, ideologically and financially supported by certain communities of Poles, could well be used in Ukraine, under the current difficult conditions of a general low level of historical education, the polarity of the politics of memory and the lack of national unity.