Galéria – Ročenka SNG 2004–2005
Modus humilis Stylistic Riddle of the ‘Cracow School’ Summary In 1978, Maria Otto-Michalowska suggested to use the term “modus humilis” to characterize the stylistic position of a relatively numerous group of traditionalist or retrograde paintings produced in Central Europe during the second third of the 15th century. The Polish scholar thus sought a key to understanding the specific style of the so-called “Cracow School” (also located in the minor local center of Nowy Sącz by earlier research). She used the term too vaguely and her text was not widely known. The present contribution tries to accommodate her inspiring insight both in the later developments of Polish research (Jerzy Gadomski) and in the international context of pre-reformation Europe. About one third of the extant paintings of the “Cracow School” is found in Slovakia, where they gather around the Altarpiece of Matejovce. For that reason, both Slovak (Anton Glatz) and Hungarian (Gyöngyi Török) scholars tried to construct the whole group as centered south of the Tatras. There can be no doubt, however, that the place, where the painters were schooled, was the royal town of Cracow, while technological characteristics of many panels (namely the use of a silver foil instead of a tin one) show that they were in fact painted on the terrain of Upper Hungary / Slovakia. The “riddle” lies in the fact that the group is painted in a clearly retrograde style, developed from a synthesis of the “Beautiful Style” of Bohemian origin with traditions of the Italian Trecento. During the same period, however, a more “modern” style, commonly called the new realism, was known and used by painters in Poland, Hungary and Silesia. This means that the patrons must have consciously chosen the more “conservative” workshops which were to be found in the region, and prolonged their active life for several decades with their commissions. It is suggested that the reason for such “irregularity of development” is to be sought in the strong influence of the Reformed Franciscans (Bernardines) at both the Hungarian and Polish courts. They were introduced to the region by preacher Johannes Capistranus in order to confront the influence of Bohemian Hussites in neighboring countries. The preference for the “conservative” style served several aims in this respect. The images remained clearly understandable and esthetically accessible to the general public which was to be effectively influenced. Besides, the “empty” and “unadorned” character of the chosen style expressed the ideals of a reformed church, freed from ostensive luxury and social arrogance – similarly to the style employed by Sassetta in service of the Italian Reformed Franciscans. In this way, the painting of the “Cracow School” can be seen in the wider international context of the 15th century reformist view of visual arts, represented by a rather numerous layer of “conservative” painting in Central Europe, but also by such important appearances as Dirck Bouts. The historical contexts of the “first counter-reformation” and of the growing anti-luxury mentality provide a matrix to understand better what originally, from the point of view of the traditional art history, seemed to be a strange detour, explicable perhaps by a supposed backwardness of the Eastern European scene. English by author
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