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Introduction
ThefirstacademicsessiondevotedtoBaroquearttookplaceinPoznań
ontheoccasionoftheXIIIGeneralConventionoftheAssociationof
ArtHistorians;itwasheldalmostexactlyhalfacenturyago,on21–22
November1957.Thesessioncomprisedonlyfouracademicpaperswhich
hadbeencommissionedearlierandweresubsequentlycopiedanddistrib-
utedamongconferenceparticipantsonlytobediscussedindetailduring
thesession.Alreadyayearlater,thecompletetextsofallthepapersand
addresseshadbeenpublishedasthefirstissueoftheXXannualvolume
oftheBiuletynHistoriiSztuki[BulletinofArtHistory]fortheyear1958.
Thechoiceofthetopicofthesessionwasassociatedwiththeongoing
processofpolitical,socialandideologicalchangeswhichwereultimately
implementedinOctober1956.ItwasthenthatthestiffcorsetofMarxist
stereotypeswhichwasimposeduponPolishhumanitiesandwhichrecog-
nizedtheBaroque–contrarytotheHprogressive”periodsoftheRenais-
sanceandtheEnlightenment,asabackward,idealistic,cosmopolitanand
simplyobscurantistphenomenon,servingthecauseofreligion,hadbeen
finallyloosened;consequently,itwasonlynowthatundertakingobjective
researchontheartofthisperiodbecamefinallypossible.
Yet,thefiftieswereaperiodofthedestructionoftheveryconceptof
theBaroque.TheprocessofHdiscovering”Mannerismwhichhadbeen
goingonforthreedecadesandofrecognizingitasanautonomousstyle
inbetweentheRenaissanceandtheBaroque,destroyedthetraditional
dichotomyofthesetwoearlymodernstyleswhichwasdescribedinits
classicformbyHeinrichWölfflin.Inturn,inthe17th-centuryart,which
upuntilthen,hadbeendefinedwithoutreservationsasBaroque,the
scholarshaddistinguishedthreedistincttrendswhichcouldbedefined
as:realism,classicismandthebaroque.Finally,thescholarsquestioned
theverycategoryofhistoricalstylesasanahistorical,theoreticalcon-
structionwhichhasnoactualcounterpartinart.Itwasthisveryaspect
thatJanBiałostockidrewattentiontoduringthesessionbyredefining
