Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
JosephSaunders:makingofthebiography(historiographyandsources)
fromhiswifeandchildren.Theillnessdeprived
himofhislivelihoodandinterruptedhisuniversity
career.Thismulti-talentedperson,intellectual,an
inspiredmaster,whowasalsoblessedwithapoetic
gift,couldnotrealizehimselffully.
23
Theenvironmentasasource
ofbiographicalinformation
ItisdifficulttoexplainthereasonwhySaunders
avoidedgivinganyinformationabouthisLondon
period.Onthebasisofauniversityemployment
recordofSaundersitisonlyknownthathewas
anobleman,thathisfatherwascalledJohn,and
thathiseldestsonwasborninLondonin1792
(asisalsotestifiedinrecordofhisson).However,
onthefuneralmonumentofthisson1794isindi-
cated-thesesortsofdiscrepanciesoftenappearin
thedataconcerningSaunders.Difficultiesarisealso
withthenameofhisson.Itappearsindifferentver-
sions,fromWilliamHenryorHenriintheFrench
style-sohewascalledathome,wherethefamily
spokeFrench-toWilhelmAndreysonofOsip(as
iswritteninRussianonhistomb).
Althoughfragmentarybutstillconsiderable,the
materialwhichhasbecomepossibletocollectin
relationtoSaunders)familyisinterestingnotonly
asanelementoftheartist)sbiographybutalsoas
evidenceofthefateofEnglishmeninRussia.Inef-
fect,onlyJosephhimselfandhiseldestsonwere
trueEnglishmen(nothingisknownaboutthis
son)smother).Joseph)swifeAntoninacamefrom
theRaczynskis(onhermother)sside),andherfa-
therwasJacobReichel.ThisGermanmedalmaker
intheserviceofStanislawAugustPoniatowskihad
movedtoSt.PetersburgaftertheThirdPartition
ofthePolish-LithuanianCommonwealth.Thetwo
daughtersofSaunders,wholivedfrombabyhoodin
Vilna,had,undertheirmother)sinfluence,aPolish
conscience.
WilliamHenrywasmostofhislifeconnected
withtheRussianarmyservice(hehadtherankof
aColonelofEngineeringTroopsandreceivedfive
ordersforbraveryinthewarof1812)andended
hislife,owingtohiswideeducation,atthepost
oftheDirectorofschoolsoftheVilnaeducational
district32.
32JosephandAntoninahadtwomoresons(oneofthem
drownedatanearlyageandtheotherprobablydiedinhis
adolescence).
ReturningtothefigureofJosephhimself,one
canguessthatnamelyhisnobleoriginscontributed
towardshisattainingasolideducationinthehu-
manities.Itdidnotonlyresultfromcontactswith
artandartistsbutwas,firstandforemost,basedon
bookishculture.Thisisevidenced,forexample,by
theprogramofhisuniversitycoursesinthehistory
ofartandengraving,whichcombinedtheoretical
andpracticalknowledge.Saundersknewforeign
languages:hewasfluentinEnglishandFrench,he
mayhavealsoknownItalianand,mostlikely,Latin
-yethedidnotsubmergehimselfeitherintothe
RussianorPolishlanguagemilieu.
Solelyonthebasisofnamesofengraversand
authorswritingonarthistoryandaesthetics,men-
tionedbySaundersinhisuniversityprojectsand
programsinarteducation,wecanoutlinethecircle
ofpersonsandeventsthatinfluencedtheformation
oftheidentityofthefutureprofessor,aswellashis
viewsonpedagogicalwork.Itisalsoimportantto
useothernon-biographicalsources,payingparticu-
larattentiontotheconditionsinwhichSaunders
mayhaveformedasamaster,i.e.thestateofengrav-
inginBritaininthelastdecadesofthe18thcentury
anditsfunctionasaculturalphenomenon.
IntheageoftheEnlightenmentengravingwas
closelylinkedwiththedevelopmentofhistorical
thinking.Itsmastersinevitablyinteractedwiththe
worksofoldmasters,studyingtheirstyle,iconog-
raphy,periodcostumes.Owingtothis,historical
eruditionexpanded,aswell.Engravingreproduced
ancientarchitecture,recordedtheresultsofarchae-
ologicalexcavationsandtosomeextentcompensat-
edfortheweaknessescharacteristicof18thcentury
historicalpainting.Thehistoricismoftheviewon
artalsodevelopedintheprocessofthecollecting
ofengravings.Originallyarrangedinthefoldersof
theirownersoronthedesksoftheirlibrariesac-
cordingtothechronologyofeventspresentedin
them,theythenbegantobegroupedbymasters
andnationalschoolsandplacedinchronological
order.Inthisformtheybegantoserveasillustra-
tionsnotofhistoricaleventsbutofthehistoryof
art.
Theexplanationofcertainfactsofartists)biog-
raphiesmustoftenbesoughtnotinthecircum-
stancesoftheirpersonallife,notintheproper
backgroundsources,butinthestateofcultureat
thetime,thespaceinwhichtheyliveandwork.
Thiswayonecantrytoanswerthequestionswhy
Saunderscombinedengravingwitharthistoryand
