Peter Brandl w Krzeszowie. Znane fakty, nieznane obrazy

English Title: Peter Brandl in Krzeszów. Known facts, unknown paintings

In: Kapustka, Mateusz (Hrsg.): Śląsk i Czechy. Wspólne drogi sztuki [Materiały konferencji n aukowej dedykowane Profesorowi Janowi Wrabecowi]. Breslau 2007 341-356 + Abb. XIV

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Translation of abstract (English)

Peter Brandl’s stay in Krzeszow (Grüssau), Silesia (from before 14 August 1731 till 24 October 1732) is undoubtedly one of the best documented periods in the Bohemian painter’s life. Thanks to the surviving archive material we know not only the exact dates of his stay as well as organisational and financial conditions of his work for the local Cistercian abbey, but also numerous details from his dissolute private life at the time. This rich and attractive documentation has made Brandl’s works painted in Krzeszow a far less interesting subject for research. Regarded as works with low artistic value, the paintings have been generally considered a testimony to the over 63-year-old painter’s declining creative powers. Latest research into the Krzeszow period in Brandl’s life as well as recent restoration work carried out on selected paintings suggest that previous opinions should be revised. The short, fourteen-month stay of the Bohemian artist in Krzeszow was undoubtedly one of the most productive in his life. As we know, it was in that period that Brandl painted the huge "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" for the high altar in the newly built abbatial church, two paintings for side altars: "The Death of St. Francis Xavier" and "St. John Nepomuk distributing alms", and an easel painting: "The Return of the Prodigal Son". The restoration work has revealed that the "modeletto" for the "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" is a workshop copy of Brandl’s work. This group of paintings should be expanded to include previously unknown Brandl’s works from Krzeszow: a "bozzetto" of the Mary group for the "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" from a private collection, a painting of "St. Bernard of Clairvaux with an Angel" in the parish church in Chelmsko Slaskie (Schömberg) a crypto-portrait of Abbot Fritsch – and the monumental painting, from Brandl’s workshop, of the "Adoration of Mary by All Saints" for the high altar in the parish church in the nearby Miszkowice (Mischelsdorf). Brandl’s numerous works from the Krzeszow period, created undoubtedly with the help of the workshop established there, vary considerably in terms of their artistic value. Such a "workshop" image of Brandl’s work in Krzeszow is markedly different from the previous model of interpreting his works advocated by Jaromir Neumann in his publications. That is why Brandl’s "workshop" period in Krzeszow can be a guideline for scholars analysing his works, including those from other periods.