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26
InessaSvirida
metSaundersinFlorence,reportedtohismother
inoneofhisletters:CAlwaysneat,well-dressedand
handsome,helivesmodestlyandfarfromthecity
centre)34.
Factsinabiographyencompassthatwhich
hasbeenrealizedandthatwhichwasplanned
butnotaccomplished.Althoughheshowedhim-
selfasamultifacetedtopclassengraver,Saunders,
however,didnotengraveRussianviews,scenes
fromRussianlife,orethnographictypes,owingto
whichsomeoftheforeignmastersbecamefamous.
TheportraitofthefamousgeneralBagration,the
heroof1812,provedtobeinsufficienttosinkinto
Russiannationalmemory.Forunknownreasons,
amonumentalengravingofthepaintingPeterthe
Great,thefounderoftheportofKronstadtbyRobert
KerPorterwasbegunbutneverfinished.Theonly
monarch,ofwhomSaunderscreatedaportraitin
itsownright,wastheunpopularPaulI.Portraitsof
CatherineIIafterLampiandAlexanderIwiththe
MusesafterthedrawingbyF.Gerard35werefron-
tispiecesoftheAlbumoftheHermitage.Saunders)
departureforLithuaniadidnotstimulatehisrec-
ognitionmuch,either.
Saunders’writingsashis
autobiographicalevidence
Saunders)lecture,andmorelikelyatemperamen-
talhour-and-halflongpublicinaugurationspeech,
Discourssurl’influenceouutilitédesArtsimitatifs
(Ontheinfluenceorbenefitsofimitativearts),36
wasdeliveredinFrenchon15September1810
atageneralmeetingoftheprofessorsoftheVilna
University.Itbecameoneofthemostbrilliantand
importanteventsofhislifeandhadanimpacton
itlater.Referringtothefieldofmoralphilosophy,
Saundersshowedhimselfinthisspeechasaper-
soninterestedintheoretical,philosophical,and
aestheticissues,abletooperatewidelywithasso-
34Korespondencja(1962-1963:vol.1,s.388).Iamdeeply
gratefultoDr.UrszulaMakowska,whohasdrawnmyatten-
tiontotherangeofsourcesrelatedtoKrzemieniecandtothe
relationsbetweenthefamilyofSaundersandthefamilyof
poetJuliuszSlowacki.
35Seealsonote27.
36BibliotekaKsiążątCzartoryskichwKrakowie(Princes
CzartoryskiLibraryinCracow).Rkp.6361,s.269-309.In
thisfirstpublicationofthelectureinPolishthetitledoesnot
correspondtothatwhichisgiveninthemanuscript.Saun-
ders(1816:vol.1).Mustbe:“Owpływiealboużytkusztuk
naśladowczych”-theuseofart,inSaunders)opinion,was
namelyinitsinfluence.
ciatedmaterial,andanexpertonworksofmost
prominentauthorsfromGiorgioVasaritoJohann
JoachimWinckelmann.
InhislectureSaunderssuggestedanidea,which
wasespeciallycongenialwiththemoodofhisaudi-
ence.CEmotionscausedbyart)
,hesaid,Caredesigned
tostimulatecivicandheroicvirtue,todrawpeople
totheresponsibilitiesofacitizen,father,husband,
son...toreviveandcontinuepublicrelations)-
thisishowhehintedattheneedtopreservethe
unity,whichhadbeenlostduetothepartitionsof
thePolish-LithuanianCommonwealth.Saunders
urgedtheauthoritiestomaintaindomesticart,
andartiststorepresentthebestpagesofnational
history.TheartsCarealsousefulfortrade,politics
andscience,
)hearguedfurther.Engravingwasgiven
thetasktodisseminateworksofart.Thankstoen-
graving,paintingsCenclosedinthesalonsofwealthy
persons...arenotdoomedtooblivionintimeand
[concealed]withinthewallsofgalleries)
.
SaunderswasadiscipleoftheEnlightenment
andthusemphasizedthepragmaticfunctionsof
prints,itssocialrole.Healsowantedhiscourse
ofarthistorytobecomeCalittlepieceofmorality,
combinedwiththeprinciples,i.e.practiceandthe-
ory,ofart)
.However,alongwithsuchsociological
andmoralizingaccents,theattitudetotheaesthetic
sideofartalsoconstantlyappearsinhisutterances,
asineverylineoftheburin,hisbelovedinstru-
ment.Heconsideredartasourceofinspiration,
artisticandreligious:COh,beautifulandpriceless
art,youpossesssuperhumanbeauty,youwillallow
toascendinthoughtstotheAlmightyCreatorof
Heavenandearth)
.Saundersconcludedhislearned
lecture-speechbuiltontherulesofrhetoric,as
apoet(hispoetryis,indeed,publishedinmaga-
zinesinVilna).
OwingtothepointsnotedinSaunders)speech,
onecandetectimportantaspectsofhisbiography.
Thereheshowedthathewaswell-versedinthe
currentideasofBritishphilosophyandaesthetics,
demonstratedextensiveknowledgeofwritingon
art,thustestifyingthathehadreceivedanexcellent
educationandthatmostofhistimewasdedicated
notonlytoengravingbutalsotointellectualread-
ing.Itispossiblethathewasadoctorofphilosophy,
whichismentionedonlyinthepublicationofhis
speech37andintheinscriptionundertheportrait
ofCanova.
37Saunders(1816:vol.1).
