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Introduction
15
theconceptoftheBaroqueinhismethodologicalpaperentitledBarok.
Styl,epoka,postawa[TheBaroque.Style,Period,Attitude](inBiule-
tyn…,pp.12–36).Thepaperwhichlateronappearedintranslationin
severaldifferentlanguages,becameacanonicaltextinthehistoryofart
concerningthisveryissue.Fromamongseveralvoicesinthediscus-
sionrelatingtoBiałostocki’spaper,itisworthdrawingone’sattention
toavaluablecriticalcommentbyLechKalinowskiwhoexpressedhis
viewinhispaperBarok:stylczyepoka?[TheBaroque:StyleorPeriod?]
(Biuletyn…,pp.106–112).
Yearslater,thesecontroversieshavelosttheirvalidity.Today,we
usetheconceptofhistoricalstylebeingfullyawareofitsconventional
nature;weuseitasaconvenient,thoughnotquitepreciseinstrumentof
chronologicalandformalclassificationofworksofart.Suchwasexactly
thefunctionthatthetermHBaroque”playedinthetitleofthecurrent
sessionwhoseoutcomeisrecordedinthepresentpublication.
Itsfulltitle–Barokibarokizacja[BaroqueandBaroquization]–un-
derstoodinitsnarrowsense,isclosetotautology.Foritsfirstpartrefers
toworkswhichwerecreatedduringtheperiodoftheBaroqueandthose
whichdisplaytheformalcharacteristicsassociatedwiththisverystyleor
elseoneofitstrends.Inturn,thesecondpartofthetitledenotestheprocess
ofmodernizationofolderworks,whichwasoftentriggeredoffbypractical
considerations:functionalorelseideologicalonesthatledtoendowing
theworksinquestionwithsecondaryBaroquefeatures;onthewhole,this
concernstheearlier,oftenmediaevaledificeswhichthusacquiredamore
fashionablelook–notinfrequentlyintheeffectoftransformationsoftheir
structureorelse,moreoftenandespeciallyinthecaseofchurcharchitec-
ture,intheeffectofchangingtheirinteriordecoration.Suchaconceptionof
theBaroque,namelyperceivedasahistoricalstyle,hadfounditsexpression
inthemajorityofthepaperspresentedattheconference.
Yet,adifferent,widerunderstandingofthetitleisalsopossible.Such
anunderstandingisusuallytheresultofrecognizingtheBaroqueasan
anti-classicalcreativeattitudewhichfindsitsexpressionintherejection
oftheearlierrulesandprinciples;itisanattitudewhichexpressesitself
inthefreedomofexpression,inthewealthofformandtheircomplexity,
inthehighlypicturesqueanddecorativevalue.Suchanunderstanding
ofthisconceptalreadyhasalongtraditioninthehistoryofartwhich
expressesitselfintheuse–generallyinrelationtothefinalphasesof
varioushistoricalstyles–ofexpressionssuchas:Hellenistic,late-Ro-
man,RomanesqueorGothicBaroque.Itispreciselyinthiswaythatthe
authorsofpapersrelatingtomodern,andparticularlytwentieth-century
art,seemtounderstandtheBaroque.
