Welcome to the Salon: Art & Science in the Polish Enlightenment
Nowadays, it seems that culture and science are divided into two exclusive fields which cannot coexist. Whereas in the Polish Enlightenment, these two areas were treated as complementary means of achieving progress. Keeping a watchful eye on cultural and scientific progress was inscribed in the social life of magnates from the era of King Stanisław August.
A cup of coffee makes a world of difference
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Spread from the book Coffee and Cookies at Any Time of the Day: History of Kraków Cafés and Pastry Shops with a map of the cafés around the main square in Kraków, photo: Culture.pl
According to cultural historians, literary life and scientific research history would not exist... without coffee. This black beverage was already known in Poland in the 17th century. Yet, the hot drink became more popular during the Enlightenment and was rose in the ranks to become a sophisticated drink. Literary appreciation for coffee appears in Ignacy Krasicki’s Brother’s Letter to His Sister:
Oh, how good it is to live in the 18th century!
Achilles and Caesar – they were great men.
However, coffee with cream they did not drink.
At the time, the rapid increase in coffee consumption caused the imposition of a tax on its import. This news ruffled the feathers of the literary society. The poet Józef Minasowicz wrote a poem titled Excise Tax on Coffee. However, his sorrow was so great, he paid a poetic goodbye to coffee:
Once coffee spiced our country with profit and fame
Now, murderous tax led to its slaying
Leaving nothing more than a big bloody stain
Never will our bitter feelings be sweetened
Trans. SS
In 1724, the first Warsaw coffee house opened in a mansion behind the Iron Gate, on the corner of Graniczna and Targowa streets. However, it was another coffee house that gained more recognition among Warsaw clientele. The spot functioned from 1763, and was situated on the corner of Gołębia and Krzywe Koło streets in the Old Town. In the mid-1780s, Warsaw already had as many coffee houses as szynkarnie – local inns which served beer (!). Examining reports from the beginning of the 1790s, you’ll find that Warsaw had up to 101 coffee house owners!
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A platter from the Sultan’s Service, ca. 1776, Poland, the Royal Faience Manufacture at the Belvedere, faience, muffle paint, gild, owned by The Ciechanowiecki Foundation in the Royal Castle in Warsaw, photo: Maciej Bronarski / The Royal Castle in Warsaw
There’s no doubt that meetings over a cup of coffee contributed to the creation of artistic communities and cultural life. At the time, one could take part in informal literary tournaments, or visit literary salons to read newspapers and new books whilst sipping coffee. It should be noted that club-cafés (klubokawiarnie, as they’re called in Polish) were not an invention of 20th century commercialism. Moreover, the interconnectedness of cultural life with politics is also not a 21st-century phenomenon. On one hand, coffee house owners had their own socio-political views. On the other hand, politicians during that time were interested in culture and supported its development. As did King Stanisław August with his legendary Thursday Dinners (obiady czwartkowe).
Initially, Thursday Dinners were supposed to revolve around literature. However, both cultural and scientific life complemented each other in the Polish Enlightenment. The king was an enlightened erudite who knew the importance of culture, and was the kind of leader that bound the representatives of culture and science together. The first so-called Thursday ‘scholarly dinners’ found their first home at the Blue Palace owned by Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, a patron of arts and science. Today, the building on Senatorska Street is the headquarters of the Public Transport Authority. At the turn of 1771 and 1772, the Thursday Dinners were moved to the Royal Castle. Roman Kaleta, an expert on the topic, wrote that it was the relatively unknown Karol Wyrwicz who first organised these meetings. The weekly magazine Zabawy Przyjemne i Pożyteczne (Pleasant and Useful Pastimes), regularly published from 1770 to 1777, was used to communicate with the Thursday community. Yet, it must be mentioned that the word 'pastime' did not actually mean pastime at the time – it meant 'work'. Therefore, it was used not only to entertain but also to educate and spread cultural information.
There were many well-known regulars at the Thursday Dinners including the likes of Adam Naruszewicz, Ignacy Krasicki, Stanisław Trembecki; the scientist Jan Albertrandi; the author of schoolbooks Grzegorz Piramowicz; the diplomat Celestyn Czaplic; the astronomer, lecturer and royal librarian Andrzej Gawroński; the diplomat and poet Wojciech Jakubowski; the mineralogist General Jan Chrzciciel Konarzewski; the philosopher and pedagogue Michał Mniszech; the publicist, translator and diplomat Joachim Litawor Chreptowicz; the poet, pedagogue and literary historian Ignacy Nagurczewski; the patriotic activist, publicist and playwright Ignacy Potocki; the writer, pedagogue and politician Józef Wybicki; and the lawyer and politician Andrzej Zamoyski.
There were also special dinners that took place on… Wednesdays. They were dedicated to architecture and the arts, and was frequented by the painter Marcello Bacciarelli, the architect Dominik Merlini, the artist Franciszek Smuglewicz, the painter and pedagogue Zygmunt Vogel, as well as the architect Jakub Kubicki.
The regulars of Wednesday and Thursday Dinners contributed to both cultural and scientific development in the Polish Enlightenment. Their influence reached as far as the 19th century. A commitment to culture and science was an element that dominated the biographies of the guests. Surely, not everyone’s but it should be emphasised. Why? Today, there is a tendency to keep culture and science separate, suggesting that they can’t coexist. In the Polish Enlightenment, these fields complemented each other.
The ‘talent show’ of the Enlightenment
Something that’s discussed every century, each era in Polish cultural history, is the question of financial support for the arts and science. In the times of Stanisław August, it was obviously the king who provided funds:
…in the hope that people of letters will become active participants willing to polish their mother tongue, revitalise literature or influence the nobility in the spirit of the Enlightenment and building trust for the reigning monarch.
Literature Dictionary of the Polish Enlightenment, p. 319, trans. SS
In the 18th century, the financial side of art and humanities could, but did not necessarily have to, mean that people of culture and science would have similar ideological or political leanings. Surely, artists who were developing literary language and creating new schoolbooks, were at the same time propagating certain world and political views. The royals, known as the 'patriotic party', propagated a clearly defined worldview. As the history of Polish culture shows, neither coffee, nor Thursday Dinners could remain ideologically neutral.
In the 18th century, art and science went hand in hand. The most prominent representatives of the Polish Enlightenment were engaged in the development of science, Polish literature, art and theatre. Competitions motivated people to actively participate in the creation of cultural life. These Enlightenment ‘talent shows’ were organised across Europe.
As part of academic practice, European universities created competitions which consisted of questions for interested scholars. One of the most popular competitions was conducted by the Academy of Dijon. Their 1755 competition consisted of questions about ‘the advantages of a simple water bath’. In 1750, one of the questions was: ‘Did the progress of science and art contribute to the demolition, or the improvement of customs? It was Jean-Jacques Rousseau who won the prize.
The writers, scholars and artists of the Polish Enlightenment were invited to participate in such scientific and literary competitions. Once, contestants were asked to write memoirs about the creation of the Załuski Library. Another time, they were invited to write about worshipping the Virgin Mary. Another idea, which was used in the 1760 competition, was announced by Józef Aleksander Jabłonowski. Contestants were asked to write essays in four different fields: geometry, mechanics and hydraulics, physics, and Polish history. Unfortunately, nobody won – even when it was repeated. They also organised competitions in the fields of geodesy and even… fire protection. In 1770, Bishop Ignacy Massalski announced the following title of a competition: ‘What education should we provide for underestimated yokels who form a great part of our society?’. The award was won by Antoni Popławski, who popularised the idea of physiocracy in Polish science – an economic theory which highlighted the importance of land agriculture and development as the only sources of wealth.
Another type of competition required the creation of schoolbooks. They were organised by the Towarzystwo Literatów w Polszcze (The Literary Association in Poland) from 1765 to 1770, and, in later years, from 1775 to 1792, by the Society for Elementary Books created by the Comission of National Education. During this time, representatives of these groups placed several competition announcements in both Polish and European press. They concerned the creation of schoolbooks about natural history, logic, pronunciation (with an award of 50 red złotys, or Polish ducats), economics, and physics (a 150 red złoty award). Twenty-three applications were sent in. Apparently, advertising was already working well in the 18th century!
In the times of Stanisław August, formal organisations showed a particular interest in these literary and scientific competitions – this was a time of the formation of all kinds of societies, which weren’t necessarily strictly political or Masonic. The Leipzig Societatis Jablonovianae, created in Lipsk, showed interest in such topics as the history of the Polish people and the Slavic region, as well as maths, physics and economics. The Warsaw Association of Physical Sciences operated in Warsaw in the years 1777-1779.
Their monthly meetings included reading treatises, demonstrating experiments and even inventions. In the future, the association wanted to take up both publishing activities and, as it seems, expand its profile with literary and critical activities.
The Dictionary of Polish Enlightenment Literature (Słownik literatury polskiego Oświecenia), page 319
The fight against poor writing
Did the attempt to expand the association’s interests with a literary and critical profile lead to its collapse? Not necessarily. It appears that the internal dynamics of both the scientific and the literary associations depended on personal relationships, as well as on the external socio-political situation. That was the case with the Warsaw Association of Critics founded by the literary crowd in 1788. Its task was to put up a fight against poor writing, meaning hasty work, lack of literary abilities, a failure to respect the rules, lack of taste, and publishing bad pieces of writing and not paying attention to criticism, in particular.
The philanthropic side of the association attracted the likes of Hugo Kołłątaj, Jan Śniadecki and Onufry Kopczyński. In time, the institution became the nucleus of the political formation known as the Kuźnica Kołłątajowska (Kołłątaj’s Forge). In this case, political activity began with the formalisation of literary meetings of a group of writers.
The further development of science and culture was also stimulated by the creation of medals and awards to be won in the fields of physics, history and trigonometry. In 1766, King Stanislaw August created the Merentibus Medal (Medal for Merits), which was given to those with outstanding achievements in science, art, innovation and industry. It was given to 330 people, including prominent natural scientists Jan Krzysztof Kluk and Stanisław Jundziłł, and the architect Wawrzyniec Gucewicz. Awards in physics, chemistry and metallurgy were given to Józef Herman Osiński, known as ‘The First Polish Electrician,’ and the literary award was granted to the comedy writer and publicist Franciszek Zabłocki.
Informal meetings, patronage, competitions, prises, and medals – all of these initiatives were created to engage people in co-operation, competition, and the development of an educated nation. There was yet another institution which impacted the growth of prestige among scientists and artists – cultural salons.
It’s no coincidence that the cultural salon, in the strict sense of the word, appeared in Poland at the beginning of Stanisław August’s reign. The most popular salon-like meetings organised at the time were the previously mentioned Thursday Dinners. Yet, they were no exception and weren’t restricted to royal patrons. The salons were a much wider phenomenon but still an elite event in the eyes of the host or hostess. One of the determinants of this elitism was the combination of culture and science: communing with writers and scholars, as well as access to culture and science, and the financial impact on the growth and development of selected artists and the support of specific research projects. In other words, keeping a watchful eye on cultural and scientific progress was inscribed in the social life of magnates during the King Stanisław August era.
One of the most significant and interesting cultural salons of the Enlightenment was hosted by Barbara Sanguszkowa from Duninów. This extraordinary woman lived through almost the entire 18th century –she was born in 1718 and died in 1791. The meetings she organised had the most distinguished guests, i.e. the future King Stanislaw August, the poet Ignacy Krasicki, the tutor of magnate children, and the promoter of a classicistic theatre Pyrrhys de Varille. There is no doubt that these salons, as well as the coffee house meetings, competitions, and medals all had the same goal: the creation of intellectual elites. A very important aspect of these meetings were the political views of the host. To be part of each group required having certain socio-political beliefs.
The uniqueness of Sanguszkowa’s salon lay in the fact that her support for culture and science went beyond elites. Marian Butkiewicz, a contemporary researcher, wrote about Sanguszkowa’s patronage:
Text
She hosted guests in her mansions in Zasław and Lubartów, which allowed her to create a social salon. Usually, it was full of intellectuals and Enlightenment activists. Apart from the broad circle of relatives, cousins and rich friends, there were a lot of young intellectuals of more modest means, who lacked familial connections. The meetings at her mansions made it possible to develop ones talents, gain broader social connections, and use the royal library. Sanguszkowa gave opportunities to achieve financial independence by the tenancy of her goods.
Author
The Lublin Pedagogical Almanac, 2005, pages 108-109, trans. SS
Sanguszkowa’s activism reflected the 18th-century elitist attitude towards culture – as a tool of progression the scope of which was to go beyond the magnate circles. ‘Bringing the light of knowledge’, or as we would say today, spreading knowledge and education about art and science, was the priority of the Enlightenment manifesto. Yet, it did not mean a break with tradition. It was more about preserving traditions and expanding them with the profits of art and science. The willingness to grow culture and knowledge followed the idealistic presumption that if a person knew what was right, they would choose wisely. Therefore, the main task and the intellectual ambition of the Polish Enlightenment activists was to raise awareness and heighten the sensitivity of society at large. Art and science worked as complementary tools in this process.
Was the goal of the Enlightenment activists achieved? Did art and science manage to fulfil their tasks? There are no easy answers. It seems that a fairly modified vision of a citizen and society, created by the adversaries of the Polish Enlightenment, faced resistance from some parties. Their forced superiority was not easy to avoid. As we know, Sarmatian society did not accept functioning under anybody’s dictatorship, let alone listening to an authority that claimed to know better. This clash came to an end with the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. From now on, everything would change drastically. Partition artists and scholars were given entirely different tasks, which were definitely not about bringing the light of knowledge to the masses…
Originally written in Polish, Mar 2021, translated by Sylwia Sienicka, Apr 2021
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