The Catholic press and rallies in the struggle for the rebirth of religious art in the second half of the nineteenth century

Abstract

The subject of this paper is to present a broad discussion of the condition of religious art in the second half of the 19th century, conducted in the Catholic press and during Catholic rallies organised as an antidote to the over-secularisation of Europe, including Poland, at that time. According to the definition contained in the Church Encyclopaedia, rallies were conventions, or congresses, of the Catholic circles whose main goal was to “intensify the influence of the Catholic Church principles in areas of not only religious but also social, scientific and national life through mutual exchange of ideas”. These congresses, held in various European countries, also raised issues related to the broadly understood religious culture, including art. The first Catholic congress in Galicia took place in Kraków at the beginning of July 1893, and the next one in Lviv three years later. Above all, the two rallies showed how great a problem for the artistic and church circles was the definition and clear delineation of the framework of religious art that would meet not only social expectations but also the requirements of the Church, treating works of art intended for the Church as objects of the highest cult. The sessions also dealt with the problem of proper conservation of numerous historical churches scattered throughout Galicia: inter alia, it was attempted to determine what type of conservation treatments should be introduced into historical churches in order not to destroy their former character. Similar in their intended use were numerous texts published in the Catholic press, with specific instructions on how churches should be adorned so as not to lose any of their sacredness and Christian spirit. Initially, the articles concerned mainly issues related to sacred architecture and artistic handicrafts; later on, texts were devoted to considerations of religious painting and its adaptation to the requirements of the dogma. Other topics included the need to take further action for the continuous dissemination of the state of knowledge about religious art and its history and the need for constant improvement of the level of contemporary church art.