Wawel i Kresy. Malowany fryz Jana Henryka Rosena w dziale polskim Esposizione Mondiale della Stampa Cattolica w Watykanie (1936)
Journal Title: Przegląd Wschodni - Year 2014, Vol 13, Issue 51
Abstract
On 12 May 1936, the International Exposition of Catholic Press was opened in the Vatican on the 75th anniversary of the Vatican daily “L’Osservatore Romano” – a tribute to Pope Pius XI. The main exposition area was filled with a presentation of Catholic press from 45 European and American countries, as well as 53 regions of the remaining three continents. It was the only event of its kind, without precedence or succession, which nonetheless – despite great publicity in the press at the time – has never piqued the interest of contemporary historians, either in the area of press studies, or even (with few exceptions) in other areas of historical research. This article presents the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Polish display, specifically the titular painting, being the main artistic and ideological accent in the Polish section of the exposition. Thanks to materials preserved in the inheritance of the Bishop of Katowice, Stanisław Adamski, available documentation shows that the Polish display at the exposition was not only a demonstration of the achievements of the press, but also an event which focused on some of the then most important questions: among others, state-church relations and the foreign (especially Eastern, and specifically Ukrainian) policy of Poland during the interwar period. In accordance with Bishop Adamski’s intentions, the motto of the Polish display was “Poland – the Bulwark of Christianity” and Rosen’s painting (preserved in the archbishops’ residence in Warsaw on ul. Miodowa) – of a clearly propagandistic character – was entitled, “Poland – Mother of Saints and the Shield of Christianity” (Polonia – Sanctorum Mater et Scutum Christianitatis). Further, the above question appears in an interesting context. Although the exposition was an international event, officially it was not individual countries which took part, but representatives of the Catholic Church in each nation. . Thanks to the discovery of the signature of Stefan du Chateau – a student of architecture assisting Rosen – on a panorama of Wawel Castle in the centre of the painting, a symbolic and unexpected connection was made between the exhibition’s ideological motto and real world practice. The work of this beginning architect on the construction of housing estates for Polish settlers, erected until the beginning of the war on the peripheries of the Zbruchanka River (including the town of Nivra in Podolia) as part of a project to bring to life agricultural reforms, with the intention of building a Christian (Roman Catholic) bulwark against the Ruthenians/Ukrainians (and from a further perspective the Soviet Union), serves as certain tangible proof of the reality and contemporaneity of the display’s motto: “Polonia antemurale Christianitatis”.
Authors and Affiliations
Joanna Wolańska
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