The 15th century church at Debno in the Podhale region is a valuable example of the woodwork architecture. It has very interesting and original, painting decorations of the interior and of the chureh- -plate in the Gothic-Renaissance style. These ornamentations made in the pattern technique, the black, green, blue and red colours prevailing seem to be connected with the Austro-Alpine art; some analogies point to connections with the interior decorations of some more ancient palaces e.g. the Claramonte palace at Palermo. There are similar fragments of the Gothic-Renaissance pattern decorations in other churches in Lesser Poland, Silesia and Slovakia. This points out to the existence of some original decorations characteristic of these regions only. Complex research work has been carried out in order to conservation on the Debno church endangered by the mushroom Merculius lacrymans and insects. The degree of wood deterioration was examined as well as the condition of the church from the technical point of view, and the ground system which could affect the wall with moisture; finally the artistic value of the architecture and polychrome was established. The results of the above research permitted to establish the proper methods for safeguarding the valuable monument against wear and tear.
RU
Костёл в дембне (у подножия Татр) происходящий из XV века, является великим ценным памятником деревянной архитектуры. Интересный и оригинальный готически-ренессансный стиль художественного внутренного убранства костёла и его оборудований, в состав которого входят орнаментные мотивы, исполненные патронной художественной техникой с преимуществом красок: чёрной, зелёной, голубой и красной, — по всей вероятности, всё это имеет связь с австрийско-альпийским искусством. Некоторые сходства указывают, кроме того, на аналогическую связь с художественным внутренним убранством ещё более древних дворцов, как например с дворцом Кляра- монте в Палермо. Похожие фрагменты декораций в готически — ренессансном стиле, исполненные патронной техникой, находятся ещё и в инных костёлах: в Малой Польше, в Силезии и в Словакии. Принимая это во внимание, можно сказать, что существование подлинного комплекса оригинальных декораций является характерной чертой исключительно этих территорий. К установлению метода консервации костёла в Дембне, которому угрожает поражение „Merulius lacrymans” и насекомыми, проведено комплексное исследование объекта. Исследовано степень разрушения и поражения древесины, техническое состояние объекта, водное расположение территория, которое могло бы быть причиной увлажнения стен и определено артистическую стоимость в пределе архитектуры и полихромии. Полученные результаты проведенных опытов и исследований, в последствии дали возможность на установление соответственных форм по работам, обеспечивающим ценный объект от повреждений.
Szadek had been built up with timber houses and wooden buildings across the ages, before the first brick constructions appeared two hundred years ago, and have become the dominant type of building. Unfortunately, the remaining wooden construction that have not vanished and are the main existing evidence of former wood-based spatial development, are often considered to be an unimportant leftover. As a result, very few timber constructions retained their original shape and character. Today, timber buildings constitute 17 percent of Szadek’s present area of the 1378 buildings in Szadek, 240 are made of wood, including 61 used for permanent accommodation. Bad technical conditions and poor engineering quality are the main problem. In most cases it is described as bad or very bad. The lack of appropriate preservation procedures results in different types of erosion. Poor fire protection exposes the wooden objects to high risk of catching fire. Timber construction have always been connected with cultural identity of regions and their unique features and attributes. Today, they are formally governed by local authorities and should be protected as they are an important element of Poland’s tradition.
Temples occupy a special place in the history of wooden architecture in Poland. Wooden manor houses are an inherent feature of our landscape, too. Wood was also used in the construction of public utility buildings, mostly taverns and village inns, often featuring interregional style characteristics. There is also a great variety of wooden structures used for industrial and craft purposes in rural areas. Other examples of wooden architecture can be found in built-up areas of small towns, typologically corresponding to the requirements of the historical delineation of land parcels, as well as in summer resorts and spas dating back from the turn of the 19th century. Wooden buildings and structures are of course the most abundant in the country. Buildings made of timber were prevalent in rural areas until the late fifties of the 20th century. Since early sixties, however, the number of wooden buildings has been decreasing steadily, which is mostly attributable to devastation and to a lesser extent to modernization trends. As a result, the traditional timber construction industry has completely disappeared in many regions of Poland. The small percentage that has survived serves as a proof of its architectural value, constituting a one-of-a-kind wooden architecture heritage on a European and even on a global scale. In fact, the most important Polish contribution to the history and evolution of global architecture is associated with wooden architecture. Preservation of historical monuments and sites in Poland has been approached with concern for centuries and has a long history and tradition. Since the second half of the 19th century, preservation of memorabilia and objects from the past, which provide historical insights into the previous epochs and events, has been regarded as a moral obligation, in accordance with the principle that the most important values should be passed down not only within the family, but also as items of national heritage. The preservation and care of historical monuments was regulated by legislative means soon after Poland regained its independence in order to ensure legal protection for specific objects of national heritage. Public administration bodies were also established to perform tasks associated with the preservation of historical sites and buildings. Due to the huge scale of destruction after the Second World War, preservation of historical monuments was practically reduced to conservation (reconstruction) activities in several chosen urban centres. The interest of the then decision makers did not extent to historical buildings and sites in most cities and villages – especially those in the so-called recovered territories or those representing manor architecture formerly belonging to “class enemies”, industrial architecture, parks, gardens and cemeteries. Wooden buildings and structures were at the highest risk of being destroyed. The transition from conservation interventions to conservation planning is said to have taken place in the mid-fifties of the 20th century. Unfortunately, preservation of historical monuments, including wooden buildings of historical value, was underfunded. Most appropriations were allocated for the most precious and unique buildings and structures. The number of wooden buildings of historical value which have been destroyed or fallen into disrepair since the war is very large. The two existing pieces of legislation: the Act on the protection of cultural heritage assets and the Act on the protection and care of historical monuments and sites have not been effective in preventing their disappearance from our landscape. The protection of the remnants of wooden architecture in our cultural landscape should be given more focus in today’s conservation activities (mostly in situ measures) to preserve the largest possible number of wooden structures in their original state, because it is this authenticity that makes them so precious. To this end, the local carpentry culture and the local wooden construction traditions must be revived if wooden structures of historical value are to be restored in a professional way by properly qualified carpenters and contractors. Conservation plans should take advantage of the revival of interest in wood as a construction material in the last two decades. More and more houses are being designed with wood as the principal construction material or one of construction materials, drawing on the tradition of century-old regional forms and restoring harmony and visual balance of our landscape. This means that the heritage of Polish wooden architecture will be continued in a new dimension and in a new space, revealing the beauty and plasticity of this material and its technical potential, often not fully appreciated or known.
L’une des bases de l’histoire de l’art, considérée comme discipline scientifique à part, est la conservation des monuments. Celle-ci est en fait un travail de découverte: elle parvient souvent à mettre à jour le véritable caractère du monument caché sous de nombreuses couches. Voici pourquoi la conservation des monuments n’est point seulement une discipline technique, mais bien une science appartenant aux humanités. Le conservateur n’est point qu’un fonctionnaire administratif, mais un homme de science en premier lieu. D ’ordinaire, le public n’a p précie point à sa juste valeur le travail du conservateur et pourtant, sans lui, l’histoire de l’art ne saurait exister. La conservation conditionne l’enseignement de l ’histoire de l’art en assurant l’e x i stence des monuments attaqués par le temps et d ’autres facteurs de destruction, en fournissant constamment de nouveaux matériaux, eu renforçant la science et é tendant les limites de ses é tude s et de ses recherches. Les travaux des conservateurs obligent la science à opérer la révision de ses opinions, à les approfondir et les étendre et, bien des fois, à les mo difier totalement. L’histoire générale de l’art nous fournit quantité d ’exemples à l’appui de cette thèse, comme par ex. la découverte de l’antiquité par lu renaissance (Raphaël conservateur), la dé couverte de Pompé i et d’Ilerculanum au XVl I l -e s., les mérites de Violletle- Duc, la découverte de l’art asiatique, arabe et grec (monuments transportés aux musées d’Europe). Les mérites des conservateurs polonais, infatigables dans leur tâche, ne sont pas moindres à l’égard de l’histoire de l’art en Pologne, ( l ’est d’après leur travail et leurs découvertes ((ne prenaient forme et se modifiaient nos connaissances sur les arts plastiques en Pologne. L’auteur cite de nombreux exemples de l ’histoire de l’art chez nous. Dans le domaine de l’archéologie préhistorique et des débuts de l’histoire, les résultats scientifiques de la conservation ont anéanti les suggestions toutes partiales de la science allemande; ils ont prouvé que notre culture ethnique propre était d’un niveau élevé. (Fouilles de Biskupin, d ’Opole, de Gniezno, de Poznań, de Kleck, de Santok, de Volhynie, de Rügen). Notre „urbanisme" promitif témoigne de formes déjà mûres incontestablement, notamment pour les fortifications (par. ex. les constructions puissantes et originales, en bois, des fortifications de Gniezno). Les découvertes des premiers temps de l’histoire, préromanes et romanes (YVuwel, rotonde des saints Fé l ix et Adauct, c a thédrale de Boleslas Chrobry, premier château en maçonnerie) ont modi f ié les anciennes opinions sur l’art de la construction dans notre pays, elles ont fait ressortir les relations avec les Tchèques ainsi que les traditions du pays des Vislaniens. Ont témoigné du niveau élevé de nos constructions et de notre sculpture de l’époque du roman, les dé couvertes des conservateurs à Cieszyn (rotonde), à l’église de st. André à Cracovie, les extraordinaires résultats des recherches opérées à l’église de Strzelno, au couvent de Tvniec et à l’église de Miechów. L’étude des parties gothiques du Wawel, la mise à nu de la plus riche construction gothique dans la cathédrale de Poznań, les travaux entrepris à Szydłów et à Wrocław ont grandement élargi nos jugements sur l’art gothique. Pour ce qui est de la peinture, les découvertes faites lors de la conservation du maître-autel de Wit Stwosz ont enrichi nos connaissances dans ce domaine de l’art gothique en Pologne. La découverte des peintures des églises ruthenes de Sandomir, Lublin et Wiślica, sont d’une importance fort grande pour la peinture (lu XV-e s. Les problèmes de la renaissance ont été traités sur un plan beaucoup plus étendu à la suite des découvertes opérées au Wawel, à Zamość et, dernièrement, au château de Pieskowa Skala. Grâce à la d é couverte (les fresques de Mogila (Stanislas Samostrzelnik) l ’individualisme émi nent de la peinture polonaise au temps de la renaissance a été mis en évidence. Bien d ’autres découvertes du domaine de la polychromie des XVII-e et XVII I-e s. ont enrichi la science; les collections privées ayant été rendues accessibles, grâce au travail des conservateurs, on a ainsi acquis les bases d’une étude poussée du portrait en Pologne au XVI l -e s. Le vif intérêt apporté par les conservateurs au problème de la construction en bois, a permis d’établir la genèse et le déve loppement du type polonais d’églises en bois. A la lumière de ces faits, il semble que les thèses énoncées au début de cet article soient 'suffissamment appuyées . Il faut donc réserver au x travaux des conservateurs lu place qui leur convient, car ils exercent une grande influence sur la culture, portent un caractère d ’actualité et les traits d’une activité pratique.
The article presents the outcome of an analysis of decorative boarding in buildings originating from 1881-1939, with special attention paid to the applied composition solutions, board patterns and the basic sizes of the boards' cross-section - width and thickness. The author also determined the period of the occurrence of particular solutions and the degree of their popularity. Decorative boarding in architecture from the region on the Swider featured vertical, horizontal and diagonal patterns, as well as mixed arrangements with the boards following assorted directions. The vertical pattern was used rarely, mainly in the nineteenth century. Horizontal and mixed (basic) patterns were encountered in all periods, but a variant of the mixed arrangement with a herringbone or rhomboidal pattern took place only in the 1920s and 1930s. The examined technique resorted to more than ten variants of moulded and moulded-canted boards as well as canted boards. The edges were decorated with simple or halfround moulding, with the former appearing up to about 1910, parallel with the half-round moulding solutions. Subsequently, they were used only sporadically, and were replaced by half-round moulding. Canted boards occurred only in the nineteenth century. Studies of the width and thickness of both types of boards indicate that in the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century their characteristic features included larger cross-sections than in the 1920s and 1930s. The obtained results also demonstrate the usefulness of an analysis of decorative boarding for the process of dating. Owing to the considerable historical and aesthetic assets of the boarding (elevation boarding, the board patterns and widths) this element of wooden architecture certainly deserves to be protected.